A New Life in San Francisco
by phoenix catcher
Summary: Complete. Slash Harry/Chris. Harry tries to make a normal life in San Francisco after escaping from Azkaban after being framed for murder except he can't escape magic, no matter what form it is in. Great involvement in the Charmed Ones' family.
1. A New Beginning

A/N; Hi, everyone. This idea has been floating around in my head for ages. My laptop is down, so I cant continue work on my other stories till it is fixed so I thought I would get at least the start of this one up in the mean time. It will be Slash so there is your warning and although it wont be explicit I will be setting the rating for R to cover any gory scenes I might decide to add.

**The name is not final, I cant think of one that fits. If this one works then it will stay unless I come up with a better one. Please Review, it would make me really happy!**

**Chapter 1; A New Beginning**

Twenty year old James Evans paused across the street taking in the building before him. It was a plain building, white-washed walls and a large plaque that declared it as being 'San Francisco Social Services.' It was a symbol to him, a new start, a new world and he wanted it to work with the whole of his heart.

He had been in this place for three years, the first spent just surviving and then two more years at the college studying child psychology completing the course a whole year early. Now it was September, he was getting wet in the rain and he was running close to late for his interview.

He darted across the road and into the building's foyer. He paused to look around and noticed a woman seated behind a desk labelled Reception along the right wall.

"Hi?" James asked nervously a weak smile forming on his face. "My name's James Evans, I've got an appointment with Mrs Matthews."

She returned the smile warmly. "She's expecting you, just follow me through here." She said as she stood and lead him through the large glass double doors along the far wall. "Just leave your jacket on one of the pegs there."

James complied shaking off his wet jacket to reveal a set of baggy faded jeans and a forest green jumper over a black tee. He glanced around at the employees and was relieved to see most wearing similar clothing to himself. Mrs. Matthews had told him to wear casual to the interview and he had picked out the lightest coloured items he had but he had been severely worried that he would stick out.

He followed the woman as she led him through row upon row of desks until they entered a small office with a 'Matthews – Senior Social Worker' plaque on the door.

"Ah, Courtney!" The woman was in her mid forties but still looked on the young side and had the kind of face that everyone warmed up to instantly. "Is this Mr. Evans?"

"Yeah, Paige." The receptionist replied as she moved aside to let James walk in. "He arrived just now, soaked from the rain."

"Your hands are blue!" Paige gasped as she looked at James more carefully, "You must be freezing."

"I'm fine," James assured her even as he flexed his hands a bit. "Thank you." He added belatedly, not used to strangers caring about him.

"Nonsense. Courtney, please get Mr. Evans a warm mug of whatever he wants." Paige Matthews told her receptionist.

Courtney glanced at James questioningly waiting for his answer.

"Just some cocoa, if you have any." He muttered, but smiled thankfully at the receptionist until she turned her back and left the room.

"Please take a seat, Mr. Evans." Paige said. "Now, I've already seen your qualifications and because of your age I've even called your professors," she paused and frowned at James when he flinched at the word 'Professors.' "At college." She continued.

Harry just nodded knowing she hadn't finished. "Don't worry, I only did that because of your finishing a whole year early. I wanted to know what they thought of you. I must say I was impressed by what they had to say about you."

"Thank you." James said shyly, not used to being complimented.

"Based on your qualifications, and their testimonies I can safely say that if you still want the job it is yours." She paused as Courtney returned and placed the mug of cocoa in front of James which he picked up instantly and held in his hands, allowing the warmth to spread into his slightly numb fingers. "However I would just like to find out a bit more about you."

James tensed slightly and hoped in vain that his new boss hadn't noticed. "What do you want to know?"

She laughed gently. "Relax, Mr. Evans. You have the job. You don't have to be so nervous!"

James forced himself to calm down, here was someone that wasn't judging him on his past and allowing him to prove to her the type of person he was. He returned her smile thankfully. "Sorry Mrs. Matthews, I get nervous when I'm around people I don't know."

"That's ok, Mr. Evans." Her smile grew a bit as she warmed up to the young man in front of her. "To start with I can't have you calling me Mrs. Matthews any longer, we are very informal here and everyone calls each other by their first names. So Paige is fine."

"James." He told her simply and returned her smile again as he calmed down.

"Let's begin with what you did before you started at college." She requested.

James drew in a slow breathe, he hated lying and wanted to avoid it at all costs but sometimes there really wasn't a choice. What would he tell her? That he was an escaped convict from a magical prison after being wrongfully imprisoned for 18 months for murdering his abusive family. At least he was partly in the right building.

"I grew up in England, my parents died when I was very young and my aunt and uncle sent me to a boarding school for most of the year. When I turned sixteen I left home to try to make it on my own. I ended up here in San Francisco and the rest you already know."

He could tell that Paige wondered about what he did between leaving and enrolling in college but he knew from his own training in social work that she wouldn't ask. "I see." She settled on eventually.

They chatted aimlessly about different things, sometimes about James' college years and how he had finished so early, also about the city they lived in and what James spent most of his spare time doing. She then spent half an hour introducing him to the other members of staff.

"This is your office here." She told him as they approached a door opening off of the main room. James looked at her confused as to why he had an office. "Most of the staff work in the main hall but a few have offices, mind you they are all pretty small, including mine. Mostly only senior staff get the offices, but also staff like yourself that need a room where they can talk to people privately. We can't expect people to open up around twenty or so people."

James nodded in agreement. He knew that he would never talk to someone privately in a room with that many people in it.

"Right then, that about deals with everything. There aren't any new cases opening at the moment, however I have a meeting on Monday over a case involving an abused child. I'll give you a copy of the case file and you can look it over at the weekend and join me at nine on Monday. Other than that, you have Friday and the weekend to yourself, you don't need to be in at all, but if you could leave your number with Courtney then if we need you I can contact you."

James nodded. "Thank you so much, Paige." He grinned happily at her, his eyes showing just a glint of the bright emerald they used to be. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"I'm sure I don't, let me know if you have any problems or just want to talk, James." She told him knowingly making the brighter glint in his eyes fade back to the dark forest green then normally were nowadays. He nodded and after shaking her hand he left, grabbing his jacket on the way.

He almost ran as he got to the road as his memories threatened to flood his mind. All he could focus on was getting back to his apartment with his sanity in tack. It had been this way ever since he had escaped from that infernal prison. The mere thought of it sent shiver up his spine that had nothing to do with the rain slowly drenching his clothing.

He caught a tram and was soon heading into the suburbs and towards his building. It wasn't much to boast about. It was the best he could do with his limited funding. He had had nothing but the rags he wore and the limited control over his magic at the time of his escape. And of course Shadow, his continuation of the Marauder legend.

Fifteen minutes after he had left the Social Services building he was fumbling for his keys in the back pocket of his rain soaked jeans and opening his door. He dropped the keys in a dish on his coffee table and slumped down onto his well worn couch grabbing a soft green pillow and hugging it against his chest as he was forced to remember all his bad memories as if a Dementor stood in the room. Everything that had forced him into his current life.

_**Flashback**_

_A scream woke him from another of his many nightmares about his Godfather falling into the Veil that he had been plagued with for the last three months since he died._

_He raced downstairs not bothering to check for his wand only to find Voldemort himself standing over the convulsing body of his Aunt. His now last remaining living relative if the blood soaked body of his cousin was evidence that Dudley was dead._

_He saw his Uncle's shape out of the corner of his eye hung from the wall, blood soaking the carpet beneath._

"_Let's see just how gullible your fans really are shall we, Potter?" Before Harry could react there was a loud crack as simultaneously the Dark Lord vanished and five Aurors appeared._

_Harry stood in shock, not even realising that Voldemort had put Harry's wand back into his hand until an Auror was disarming him sending him backwards into the wall. A red light and then he knew nothing more._

_**Change Memory**_

"_Harry James Potter, you are found guilty of the brutal murders of you relatives." The voice echoed around the large meeting hall._

_Harry looked around him, seeing the furious faces of most of the Weasleys, the only ones missing from the perfect picture were the Twins and their two eldest sons. The sobbing face of Hermione being comforted by Charlie Weasley who looked at Harry with pity. Dear Remus looking lost as if his last hold on life had just crumbled. Severus Snape looking smug among the disappointed faces of all of his Professors, all of which had testified to say that he was unstable. And then finally the wizened face of Albus Dumbledore with a failed look upon his face mixed with fury that Harry could kill his own relatives._

_Out of everyone he knew only three looked to believe him when he pleaded his innocence. His best friend and sister. A man he barely knew who took his word over that of his own brothers and parents. And finally his surrogate godfather, who couldn't afford to lose anything more in this world but as a werewolf had no hope left to defend his cub._

"_You are hereby sentences to five years in Azkaban Prison at which point you will attend a hearing to decide between a life sentence and the Dementor's Kiss." A gravel hitting a block of wood and Harry's world fell into darkness again as a stunner hit him in the back._

_**Change Memory**_

"_I'm so sorry, Harry." The voice of Charlie Weasley distracted him from his memories. He looked up at Charlie and Bill Weasley. "Remus died yesterday. He couldn't take the loss anymore."_

_A single tear crept from one of Harry's eyes and fell to the floor of his five by five foot cell. His home for the last three months._

_**Change Memory**_

_The Dementor's version of a birthday present had just thankfully ended and the first bright light that he had seen in a whole year appeared in the centre of his cell. A figure appeared from a cloud of white lights._

"_It is time for you to start working on escaping this place, my young charge."_

_Harry thinking it was just a sick Aurors' trick played along. "How?"_

"_The same way your Godfather escaped." A bright light again and Harry's head snapped up from the floor. How could an Auror know about that?_

_**Chamge Memory**_

_The ice cold water splashed at his face as he swam for everything he was worth. He could hear an alarm a mile behind him. They had discovered his escape but it was dark and there was no way that they could see him in the shape of his animagis form. A Black Panther against a cloudy night, evidence of almost half a years training and pushing himself to use his magic without his wand, without training. And it had worked, he had brought down the animagus wards on his cell and slipped out unseen as Shadow._

_**End Flashbacks**_

James opened his blurry eyes and determined set to his face as he remembered his mantra. 'I am James Sirius Evans.' 'Harry Potter died when he escaped from Azkaban.' 'This is my new life.'

A flash of white light caught his attention near his phone but when he lifted his head to see, it had disappeared. But he did catch sight of the blinking red number one on his answer machine. Not caring to get up he flicked his hand lazily over his shoulder and the little play button was pressed.

"**Hey, James! You need to get out some more!" **James recognised the voice as Sam's. His college room mate, who up until a week ago had lived with him in this apartment. He always had a knack of knowing when to call and always knew that James never got out much.** "Me and Jackie are going to a club tonight down near the industrial complex. It's called P3, look it up and meet us there at eight. And no, you don't have a choice!"**

James flicked his wrist again and the red number changed from a one to a zero. James laid his head back onto the arm of the chair and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before deciding to go.

Time to celebrate his new job.


	2. In a Panic

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 2; In a Panic

James walked quickly down through his old college, the quickest route to walk into the part of city that Sam had mentioned. The college looked like just another part of the area, the buildings closely packed, built in the early seventies in that drab concrete wall design that was so popular at the time. He spied someone coming out of the student union building as he came around the last corner that pointed the way to the complex that the club was sited. The women looked to be in her early thirties, she wore simple clothing and had her hair tied up in a bun like normal.

He waved at her happily, they had met just after James had arrived in San Francisco, and it had been her that had made him decide to enrol in the college to try to make his life have meaning again. She was a student support worker, not his unfortunately, actually he never really did know who her students were but there was a lot of students here so it wasn't that surprising really.

"Hi, Gemma!" He said with a smile as soon as they were close enough. He accepted her hug, though a bit stiffly as was his way.

"Hey, James." She said when she released him, "Where you off to?"

"Going to meet Sam and Jackie at P3. You ever been there?" He asked, trying to get some information about the strange place before walking in.

"Can't say I have, all I know is that it is respectable, you don't have to worry about getting hurt." She said, seeing through his act. The three years or more that she had helped him had given her particularly good instincts when it came to James' ways. "Besides I'm sure Sam and Jackie will look out for you. Maybe you'll meet someone." She suggested with a wink.

"I'm only going to celebrate my new job." James said bluntly, rebutting her match-making attempt as he always did.

"You got it?" He nodded, "The one at the Social Services?" He nodded again and he suddenly found himself in another motherly hug that threatened to bring tears to his eyes at the reminder of his old best friend's mother but he didn't cry about things like that anymore. At least not in the open. "That's great! That's the one under Paige Matthews isn't it?"

"Yeah, she seemed nice enough, but I think she's already planning on shrinking me." He grumbled the last part out.

"You can't blame her for picking it up; it is her job after all. I know her by reputation, she's a good person, try to let her in, ok?" She told him.

"Sure, Gemma." Harry forced a grin though it probably looked more like a grimace. "I should probably get going or I'm going to be late. It's already five-to and it's a fifteen minute walk from here."

"Ok, James, have a nice evening," She smiled at him which he grudgingly returned. "Remember what I told you, even if your not a student anymore, you can always call me and we can talk. About anything."

James nodded and continued his walk along the pavement. When he looked around to watch her walk away she was already gone. He sighed as he crossed the road into the Industrial complex; she always managed to vanish like that, leaving him wandering on his own.

**P3**

"Matt!" Piper called across the bar, it was officially her night off and to celebrate the time away from running her club her sisters had decided to drag her back to the club again. "Anything my family orders is on the house!" She told her new barman. He nodded as if that's what he would have done anyway, and it probably would have been since he knew her sisters from his own ventures into the club. It was a quiet night since it was a weeknight but she was satisfied to see that, even this early, there were quite a few people there.

She ordered a few drinks and told him where to find them even as she stood from where she had been leaning on the counter top and turned to walk back to the private booth that her family always occupied. For once her sisters had managed to get sitters for their children so everyone was there that could be. She and her husband Leo had been nominated to sit on the bar stools that closed off their three sided cubical. Around the table were Phoebe and her husband Coup on one side. Paige and her husband Henry took up the back seats and Piper's two eldest sons Wyatt and Chris closed off the square of eight.

Piper's other two children as well as both Phoebe's three and Paige's five were at the manor under the care of a a couple of sitters as they were all under drinking age so for once they had some peace.

They made small talk for a while, catching up on everything that had happened in the last few weeks until their drinks arrived.

Just as they were all about to drink, Wyatt spoke up, raising his pint of beer in a toast. "To my little brother for graduating from college and joining the real world once more!" The group laughed partly at his little joke but mostly at the brilliant shade of red that Chris went at the sudden attention. The group cheered him and drank.

"That reminds me!" Piper suddenly said reaching across in a silent gesture to Paige who had all the bags and jackets behind her on the ledge. Paige reached over her shoulder and grabbed Piper's, handing it over the table at once. Piper dug through it for a few seconds before producing what she was looking for. "Your father and I decided it was time to pass this on. Wyatt agreed with us that you should have it even if it is supposed to be passed down through the eldest sons."

Chris reverently took the fading box from her and opened it slowly to reveal a delicately made silver ring. It was made up of two small serpents twisting round each other in the same direction and looping around to overlap themselves to make the ring complete. It was obviously very old and very expensive.

"I shouldn't have this, Wyatt should have it." Chris tried to pass it back to his father. The rest of the group just watched on in silence.

"I wouldn't have much use for it, Chris." Wyatt told him. "When I get married it will be modern, a ring like this isn't really suitable now-a-days for wedding rings. But it would suit you as a promise ring when you find the right guy."

Chris stared at his brother for a second, his family had known he was gay for the last few years, ever since he had gone to college and worked it out himself, so this news wasn't anything new for them. "Are you sure?" He asked his parents.

"Of course we are, Chris!" Leo told him firmly yet lovingly. "It's our present to you for your graduation. We could always get you a car like we did your brother if you would prefer." He continued teasingly knowing what his son would say.

"No!" Chris shouted rather loudly, drawing a bit of attention to the group making him flush again. "This is much better! Thank you!" He hugged his mum and then, leaning over her, hugged his father and then settled down to a round of congratulations from his aunts and uncles.

**Across the room**

"You got it! That's great!" Sam shouted gleefully smiling at him knowing better then to try to hug his friend or even shake his hand in such a public place.

"Well, we both knew you'd get it. Well at least I did!" Jackie glared playfully at Sam as the three sat in one of the booths away from the crowd. James had picked it as usual, like he always did when they went out. Sam and Jackie were used to it by now and barely noticed it. Reminded of it only when James closed off when people came too close or tried to touch him in public or even in private if he didn't know them. Neither knew why he was that way, but both knew it was something horrible in his past but both loved him despite it.

Sam chuckled at Jackie and winked at James before setting down his and James' drinks. Jackie took two large gulps of her own cider before settling down comfortably in the comfy seat opposite her two friends. James trapped safely between the wall and the protection that Sam provided by sitting on his side instead of with Jackie.

"So, where did you find out about this place?" James managed after a few attempts at speaking over the band but still carefully enough to not draw attention.

"A guy in our year at college, studied chemistry with me." Jackie informed him. "His mum owns this place and he swore it was safe so you don't have to worry."

"Yeah, well, he's obviously biased." Sam interrupted before turning half to James. "I'm sure James would prefer to know what _he's _like. Right James?" He joked.

"Ha ha, very funny Sam!" James muttered sarcastically, warming up to the place as he got his bearings.

"Actually, rumour has it, he _is_ gay." Jackie told him trying to turn the conversation into a more serious one. "And actually I looked up the history of this club. It was started by his mum and her two sisters. One of them died shortly after it opened though. But they found a long lost sister soon after that. Someone by the name of Paige Matthews."

"Oh, like that ever happens anywhere but fairytales." Sam laughed.

"Did you say, Paige Matthews?" James asked and got a nod in return. "My new boss." He told them simply.

A shout from across the room during a quiet point in the song drew their attention to one of the private booths. "That's Chris!" Jackie informed them both happily, pointing wildly. "The one who's mum owns this place."

"Who do you think the others are?" Sam asked trying to get a better view.

"Well the two he just hugged are probably his parents." She told him bluntly with a raised eyebrow, "The others I can only guess at. That must be his older brother Wyatt he told me about. And I think I saw that woman on the right pick him up once for Christmas holidays. Phoebe, I think her name was."

"That must be her husband then." Sam deduced, gesturing towards the man beside her. Even as they watched Chris leaned back again and revealed the last two at the table.

"And that's my new boss." James told them succinctly as if everything always conspired against him, which it normally did.

"And her husband." Jackie supplied cheerfully. James looked at her carefully to see if she was taking something before turning back to the group and looked straight into the watching face of his new boss.

"Great!" He muttered turning back to the others quickly. "She saw me!"

"It's not a crime to visit the same pub as your boss you know, James." Sam told him.

"It is when she knows I'm only twenty and this is a twenty-ones only club." James told them glancing back over to see the whole group staring at him carefully. He went pale with so many eyes looking at him.

Jackie gave Sam a concerned look as they both saw him go very pale and both knowing it had nothing to do with breaking the law. James had done that many times since they had met him and he never went pale. He was scared.

Sam scooted across their shared seat closer to James and grabbed his hand below the table so that no-one would see them and noted how much his friend was shaking. He squeezed his hand gently as he whispered reassuringly in his ear. Jackie stood up to try to get a cold cloth from the bar, but was stopped when a guy blocked her way.

"Hey, sweetie!" He slurred at her. James started shaking more, inadvertently stopping Sam from helping her.

"Please move." Jackie told him simply but he just grabbed her arm.

"Leave her alone!" Sam yelled, his voice unknowingly carrying across the room.

**Private Booth; A few minutes before**

Paige watched as Chris hugged his mother and then his father before noticing a group on the other side of the room. Her eyes met that of her newest employee, obviously out with his friends to celebrate his new job. College friends by the looks of it judging by their age.

"You remember I mentioned I interviewed a new counsellor today?" She asked the group.

"The one you said seemed to be hiding something horrible?" Phoebe asked.

She nodded in James' direction. "That's him over there."

The whole group spun their heads to look just as James turned back from talking to his friends. Paige realised something was wrong when he turned pale almost instantly. Piper turned to look at Paige, as did most of the group. "I thought you said he was really young, how old is he?"

"Twenty." She told her distractedly as she watched his friends start to fuss over him. She frowned.

"He shouldn't be in here then." Piper said.

"Maybe that's why he's gone so pale then." Suggested Wyatt. Everyone but Paige and Chris turned to look at him as he joked. Paige already knowing about James being pale and Chris because he was still watching the scene across the room.

Piper sighed and went to stand, presumably to throw James out for being underage. Paige stopped her.

"Wait, Piper!" she said and Piper sat back again. "Please just leave it this time. I get this vibe off of him, like he has something terrible hidden from view that he is in a constant fight with."

"Besides mum," Wyatt spoke up. "I don't think his drink's alcoholic either so its only your rule he's broken not the law as such."

Piper sighed, partly defeated and partly glad that she wouldn't have to kick out someone that Paige seemed to worry about.

Before anyone else could speak, Chris was leaping out of the booth and Wyatt was close behind.

"Leave her alone!" The yell from across the room had both Piper and Leo on their feet followed quickly by the others as they slide out of the booth.

**Across the room.**

"Leave me alone!" Jackie yelled before trying to slap the larger man. The red headed man just caught her other arm and gripped it painfully. Sam by this point was split between helping Jackie and calming down James. He couldn't remember James ever reacting quite this badly before. Normally it was just a brief panic, but this time he seemed to be having a serious problem with this man that wouldn't leave Jackie alone. Sam thought he heard the name Ron whispered from James' lips and suddenly realised that this was reminding him of something from his time in England.

"Let her go." A new voice broke through the noises of struggles. James flinched as two new people entered their little area. The taller of the two pried the drunk red-head off of Jackie, who muttered a quick thank you before spinning to check on James.

"Jackie?" Chris asked her. "What's wrong with him?"

"We don't know!" Sam snapped at him before turning to James again, trying to shut him off from the rest of the world which wasn't working as they were drawing a large crowd including the rest of Chris' family.

"Please, Chris," Jackie turned on Chris. "We need to get him somewhere quiet."

Chris nodded and turned searching out his mother, who he found standing talking to the bouncer who was holding the drunk man. He opened his mouth to ask her but she beat him to it, gesturing towards her office.

Sam slowly brought James out of the booth making sure he kept his attention on him. Wyatt moved to James' other side to help take his weight. As soon as his hand was placed on James' waist however, James shrunk away from it and into Sam.

"Don't touch him." Jackie told him before moving to take James' weight herself which he accepted. They followed Wyatt and Chris out of the room and down a much cooler and quieter corridor to a nicely furnished room.

They settled James down sideways on a sofa, Sam in front of him calming him down. Jackie stood up again.

"Can you get him something to cool him down? Ice, or a wet towel?" Wyatt nodded and left the room again. The door closed behind him leaving the room in near silence despite the loud music emanating from the other room.

Chris stood uncomfortable in the centre of the room as Jackie and Sam fussed over his aunt's latest employee. Wyatt returned less than a minute later followed by the rest of his family. He took the ice filled towel off of Wyatt and slowly gave it to Jackie who settled it carefully on the back of James' neck.

James instantly seemed to calm as the shock of the ice cold cloth brought him back to reality. Chris heard his parents talking to his Aunts and Uncles in the corner and slipped closer keeping an eye on James.

"The guy's been thrown out of the club and reported to the police for abuse." Piper was telling the others.

"Do we know what's wrong?" Henry asked.

"I can sense a lot from him, but then not a lot at the same time." Phoebe told them after tapping into her Empathic abilities. "There's fear, confusion and a lot of pain."

"Pain?" Wyatt asked, "Is he hurt?"

"Not actual pain, more like remembered pain. Something from the past perhaps." Phoebe replied looking at Paige who shrugged. "Then there the not a lot part. There's something missing."

"It's his heart; it's closed off to the world." Coup told them, "_I_ can't even get into it. He's protected it somehow. Probably unknowingly."

They were interrupted by Jackie who had come over. "I just wanted to say thanks for your help. Both for me and for James."

"Will he be ok?" Chris asked his college friend making his parents and Wyatt smile knowingly.

"Will he be ok for work on Monday?" Paige asked out of concern for him.

"He'll be ok." Jackie told them. "He's a lot stronger than he seems. Far stronger than most of us." She muttered the last part more to herself then to them, though they all heard her.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe asked glancing at the two young men still talking on the sofa, happy to see James talking calmly again with his own hand holding the cold towel to his own neck.

"He gets like this when he's nervous, or scared. I think it had something to do with you all staring at him, and then that guy must have made it worse as this is the worst I've seen him in at least two years now." She explained.

"Do you know why?" Paige asked, trying to get some answers about her knew counsellor.

"I don't know why, nor does Sam. What ever it is it happened before he came to San Francisco and only James knows anything about that and he refuses to talk about it to anyone. Even us." She sighed as she glanced at her friend before turning back to Chris. "We're helping him all we can though. There really isn't any need to worry." She directed this last part at the older occupants of the room.

The whole group jumped suddenly when James spoke up from behind them. "I just wanted to say thanks and to apologise for disturbing your evening." He was still on the pale side and when Piper went to take a step towards him to check him over he retreated backwards walking into his taller friends chest who steadied him and warned Piper with a shake of his head to come no closer. A muttered sorry from James to his friend echoed across the room again.

James look nervously at Piper for a few seconds before drawing up the courage to speak again. "Also, I'm really sorry. I know you should kick me out because I'm only twenty."

Piper interrupted him before he could work himself up again. "Don't worry about that, how about I make you a deal." She smiled at him before continuing. "As long as your only ever in here with at least one of your friends here and that you don't touch any alcohol, then your welcome in my club. And your also welcome to use this office or the one next door if you need some space. Just don't tell anyone I let you."

"Who?" Henry put in sarcastically, "Like the police?"

James, Sam and Jackie gave him strange looks at the suggestion, not knowing that he was a cop before shrugging it off again when Paige slapped him lightly over the back of the head.

"Ok, I wont joke again!" He muttered to Phoebe's husband beside him who chuckled.

"Thanks again." Sam told them all before moving around James to hand Piper the cold towel. "We should probably get going." Chris and Wyatt lead the way out of the back of the pub and walked with them in silence until they were sure that the red-headed man wasn't hanging around for revenge.

"This is our stop." Jackie told Chris when they reached the college grounds.

"You three still live at college?" Chris asked.

"Sam and I don't, both of us are staying with our family for a while till we find another place." She explained gesturing at Sam who hadn't moved from between James and the two new people throughout the walk. "But James is still renting Sam and his shared dorm in the Paxton building."

They accepted this easily enough and soon they were heading back to the club whilst Sam, James and Jackie headed to crash at James' place for the night.

A/N; My laptops back up and running again! Yay! I'll hopefully have the next chapter of my stargate cross over up later tonight. I'm really sorry for the delays. Please review!


	3. Alcatraz's Secret

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 3; Alcatraz's secret

James spent most of Friday and Saturday staying at home. Sam had stuck around since then to alleviate James' nightmares that were sure to follow an event like the one that had occurred at P3 on Thursday night. Jackie, though she had crashed on the couch Thursday night had gone home early on Friday morning to pick up her cousin from the airport. She had been given the onerous task of keeping the young thirteen year old girl busy for the weekend before she flew back to England after her two month tour of America.

It was late Sunday when everything went wrong. James and Sam were sitting down for dinner on James' sofa. They had been planning to go into the city centre and do a little late night shopping but that plan was quickly forgotten when a hysterical Jackie called.

"Calm down, Jackie!" James told her sternly. "Where are you? I can barely hear you."

There was a brief struggle before the background noise that had first covered Jackie's hysterical words died away.

"We're down by the water edge." Jackie yelled into the phone over the wind.

"You sound like you're in a hurricane!" James told her, rather loudly so that she could hear him. "I thought you were supposed to be visiting Alcatraz?" James asked referring to her weekend planning that she had spent the last week completing.

"We were! Oh god James! I don't know what it was, but it was horrible!" She sounded really scared. "And now there's this huge storm breaking out of nowhere over the city!"

James glanced out of the window where indeed he saw that the storm that they had noticed build up over the last few hours was coming from the north. "Wait there, Jackie. Me and Sam will come and pick you up." He told her.

"Thanks, James. Were near Pier 41." Jackie told him before the background noise returned and the line went dead.

"Jackie and Lucy are stuck in the storm. Did you want to come with me to pick them up?" James asked Sam.

"I'm not letting you drive into that storm on your own!" Sam cried getting to his feet. They both grabbed raincoats on their way out of James' flat and were soon getting into James' second hand Honda Civic and driving North with the sky getting steadily darker and darker.

"So, what was she so hysterical about? I mean, we've had storms as bad as this before and it never phased her." Sam asked as they neared the place where James had been told to meet them.

"I don't know, I think something happened on Alcatraz island. I could hear a lot of noise on the other end of the line. Maybe they evacuated everyone because of the storm?" James suggested.

"That doesn't make sense, surely if a storm hit you'd stay and take shelter on the island rather than crossing the bay." Sam stated logical before continuing. "Besides, that wouldn't be enough to make Jackie that scared.

James shrugged without taking his eyes off the road as rain poured down over the windshield. Two minutes later they were pulling up near a small car park by the water edge. It almost looked like dusk here but James saw a group of people huddled under a bus shelter, though they were still getting drenched. Flashing lights drew his attention to five ambulances along the side of the car park where most of the people were.

"Stay in here." James told Sam before jumping out of the car and before Sam could protest the door had closed behind him. He made his way across the road into the car park. Two people to the side of the group in the bus stop caught his attention, he couldn't see their faces from this angle but the taller one's height matched Jackie's five foot ten frame and the figure beside her was about the right height for someone of Lucy's age. "Jackie?" He yelled through the wind when he was only a few metres behind them.

"James!" Jackie shouted back pulling Lucy with her as she moved out of the small cover that the shelter gave them and towards James who took off his own rain jacket as he noticed that neither had one. He handed it to Lucy when they met.

"Quick, let's back to the car. We'll talk in there." James told them before grabbing Jackie's hand and tugging her and Lucy across the road and back into the car.

By the time they reached it James' clothing was soaked through to match Jackie and Lucy. He held the door open for them to clamber in the back before moving to the driver's door and getting in himself. Sam was already taking off his own jacket to give to Jackie and he was the only dry one among them.

"Are you two ok?" Sam asked, looking at their pale faces and cold hands. He received short nods from the pair and James didn't waste any more time in starting the short journey back to his flat.

The group didn't speak much on the way. James wanted to know what had happened but had to concentrate too much on keeping the rain and wind from spinning the car out of control. Sam didn't want to distract James from his driving and the girls seemed to just be in shock.

James parked the car right across the door to his building regardless of the no parking zone and they piled out of it and ran for the shelter of the building. James unlocked his flat and three soaked people and one damp one flooded in.

"Sam, go and grab some of your clothes and go to my room, I'll go change quickly in there too. Jackie, can you pop the kettle on and then I think your bag of spare clothes are in Sam's room. Lucy can use those and I'll grab you some of my own to wear." James told them all and straight away Sam disappeared into his old room which he had been staying in for the last couple of days. James went into his own room, stripping off his soaked tee-shirt as he went. He walked through his bedroom and into his bathroom grabbing a towel.

He stripped off the rest of his clothes leaving them in the bath for the time being before tying a towel around his waist. He grabbed two others from a clean pile and headed back into his bedroom. Neither Sam nor he fluttered an eyelash at their state of undress since in their first year they had shared a double room and other the course of the year had seen each other countless times in less clothing than a towel.

They quickly changed into dry clothes before heading back into the living room. "Sam could you make some hot chocolate for us all. I think there is some chocolate in the fridge too. Could you grab that?" He asked and received a quick nod. James always knew the best way to cheer people up, even down to what food to give them. Sam had just finished a degree in History and Jackie was now Chemistry graduate.

James knocked on the door to Sam's old room and received a yelled permission to enter. He opened the door automatically averting his eyes in case Lucy was changing.

"It's ok, James, it's just me in here." Jackie told him. James sighed and looked up. Jackie was never shy around James, though she wasn't shy around a lot of people, but with James being gay she knew she wouldn't get any dirty comments. "I sent Lucy in to warm up in the shower."

"You best go give her this then." James passed her the towel and moved over to the bed to strip the sheets as she disappeared into the bathroom. By the time he had finished putting knew linen on the bed so that the girls would have somewhere to stay that night she had returned and changed into James' clothing that he had lent her. "There'll be hot chocolate out there once she's out. I think you both need a chance to warm up."

Five minutes later the two girls joined James and Sam in the living room. James gave up his place on the sofa so that the two girls could sit down next to Sam. Jackie still looked pale as Sam handed her a hot drink. Lucy looked if anything worse, in fact whereas Jackie only looked pale but no longer worried, Lucy took scared and confused as well as pale.

"Both of you should eat some chocolate." James told them both, he gave Jackie a piece and then turned to meet Lucy's eyes for the first time as he passed her the chocolate. Alarms started ringing in his head as he recognised something in her but he couldn't put his finger on what. He knew he didn't know her or anyone who resembled her.

"So what happened?" Sam broke the silence that fell as Jackie and Lucy savoured their chocolate both looking far better with the sugary treat in their systems.

"We were on one of the tours of the prison and had just got to the office section when there was this huge crash from somewhere. One of the tour guides said that it had come from the closest cell block, but before any of us could move all the lights went dark and the room got really cold." She explained. James tensed, more alarms going off at the reminder of the summer before his fifth year. "I don't know. . ." she stumbled over the sentence for a few seconds as if trying to find the right words. "I don't know how to describe the feeling, it was like I couldn't think of anything happy. I couldn't focus on anything but the night when I was eight and my brother died in that car crash."

"Oh god," Sam pulled her into his side. Lucy looked to be thinking of what she had remembered though it didn't seem to be as bad as Jackie's memories. Jackie continued eventually.

"One of the guides must have pulled out a torch or something because a light shone down the tunnel but there was nothing there." She paused as she looked at Lucy. "It was then that Lucy started screaming like she'd seen something."

'Oh Merlin.' James thought, 'That effect could only point to a Dementor, and Jackie couldn't see it because she didn't have any magic. But Lucy had seen something, enough of something to make her scream.' It was then that all the warnings clicked in his mind. But he wanted to be sure.

He passed Jackie another piece of chocolate to eat, as well as giving a piece to Sam as he was eyeing it. He then turned to Lucy and gave her a larger chunk as he knelt in front of her. He made sure to cup Lucy's hand in his own two as he placed the chocolate in them. He felt it, that spark through his system that told him that Lucy was the very thing that he feared the most.

A English Witch in San Francisco. He bolted backwards and barked his shin against the coffee table as he went drawing odd looks from Jackie and Sam. Lucy didn't seem to notice and there had been plenty of chance during the last hour for her to have recognised him as James Potter but she didn't seem to have.

He decided to play the role of the Child Psychologist that he was. He sat on the edge of the coffee table and re-filled the mug of hot chocolate. "Lucy?" The girl looked up. "How do you feel now?"

"Better, thank you Mr. . .?" She stumbled when she hit the name.

"James Evans." He introduced himself. "But you can call me James, none of that Mr. Evans stuff." He grinned at her.

She returned the smile opening up to James' honest person.

"Jackie tell us you live in England." James asked and received a shy nod in response.

"James' from England, aren't you James." Sam told her cheerfully trying to help James cheer her up. James winced as his best friend gave the young witch a clue as to his real identity.

The girl's head snapped up to look at James looking at him in bewilderment as if trying to recall something but James sought to distract her. "Where do you go to school?" He asked wanting to put her on the defensive. Making people hide their own secrets was a good way to avoid people being suspicious of you.

"I…I go to a boarding school in Scotland." She told him.

"Do you like it there?" James asked, honestly curious. "Which is your favourite member of staff?"

"It's a good school, I really like Headmistress McGonagal." For a fleeting second James actually thought she was testing him, but he pushed the idea away, she probably didn't figure there was anything that a Muggle could gleam from the name, but to James it proved his theory that she was a Hogwarts student.

Now to find out is she was raised a Witch. If she was Muggle-born then there was a chance she hadn't heard of him, or hadn't been brought up with tales of the boy-who-lived. "Did your parents go to the same school?" He asked with a curious tone, though he made sure that she knew he was only making conversation.

"No," she told him, making him relax slightly. "They went to the local school."

"Now," James turned serious. "Can you tell me what happened today on the Island? Jackie told us that you screamed when the Guide switched on his light. Did you see something?"

She was obviously torn between telling them and maintaining the secret of magic. "I…I thought I saw something in the corridor. A person maybe, but it must have been a shadow from the Guide's torch." She told him, feeling more confident as she went.

James turned to Jackie, "But you didn't see anything?" He asked to make sure.

Jackie shook her head and that decided it for James. There was Dementors in Alcatraz and for some reason they had been released. The storm pointed to there being hundreds of them. The question was whether they had left Alcatraz Island yet.

Harry eventually turned the conversation away from what had happened that day and onto nicer topics until suddenly the power cut off. Harry made his way to the kitchen in the dark as the others waited. He pulled a lantern out of one of the cupboards and turned it on, flooding the room with a dull light.

"Maybe we should all head to bed?" James suggested as he walked around the counter top and into the living room proper.

He received three nods through the darkness, he walked Jackie and Lucy into their room for the night and waited in the door as they got into bed before leaving the room and making his way to his own room with Sam.

"Night, James." Sam said as they stripped down to their boxers and settled under their covers. James left the curtains open giving the room some illumination though not much. "You're going to make a great Social Worker, you know that?" James chuckled along with Sam but said thank you all the same.

As they settled down James started concentrating on his magic willing it to help Sam to enter a long and deep sleep. He felt it working and thanked Merlin that Lucy was too young and ill-trained to sense the use of advanced magic. As soon as Sam's breathing slowed and became shallower he slipped back out of the warmth of his bed and threw on his clothing. He made sure to add a few layers before slipping into a black leather waterproof jacket that Sam and Jackie had brought him after their graduation. He pulled the matching gloves on and snuck out of the room, being careful not to make a sound as he slipped out of the room. He left a note on the counter top as he left, saying good morning and that he had popped into town to get a paper and some groceries. Hopefully it would be enough that if he was later back then he planned, Sam and Jackie wouldn't worry that much.

He slipped out of the building and into the rain and with the covering sound of the rain on the rooftops he apparated away with a soft pop.

**Alcatraz Island (Immediately afterwards)**

James reappeared and almost straight away his form morphed into Shadow, black velvet fur blending perfectly with the night with only two bright green eyes glowing with an eerie intelligence.

Silently James padded forwards, huge paws making no sound as he crept across the courtyard of the disused prison. He expanded his panther senses, seeking out the smells of anything living. He smelled old traces of humans but the water pouring through the air and over his fur dampened the smells further away. He made his way to the cell block's entrance and slipped into the shelter, as soon as he was out of the rain his senses picked up hundreds of smells. He vaguely accounted for Jackie's scent which Shadow's memories remembered and many others that he didn't recognise and then a horrible smell that made him flinch violently loosing the predator's grace that came naturally to his panther form.

The smell left in the wake of the Dementors. A smell that in itself depressed James more than anything else. He regained his control and followed the putrid scent further into the prison to were all of the trails seemed to originate. A small stairwell down into a room. A sign on the wall marked it as the incinerator room. He followed the stairs down and instead of an incinerator in the room there was a large arch bricked into the wall. A carved name above it told James that this was the entrance to and old Wizarding section of the infamous Muggle prison above. Obviously when they shut down the prison they sealed all of the Dementors away and now they had escaped. Had they sensed Lucy's presence in the prison and broken out or was it just a coincidence?

A plan formed in his mind even as his panther instincts screamed at him that it was insanity. It was either this or risk the Dementors getting loose in San Francisco surrounded by millions of people who couldn't see them let alone defend themselves.

He padded silently further and further into the underground complex, disused cells with crippled bars flashed constantly passed to both sides. He went straight ignoring the side passageways as he went. After a few minutes he decided that he had gone far enough and bracing himself he pushed himself upright and morphed back into a human.

Without a pause the cold wave of depression slammed into him. Goosebumps sprung up all over his body and shiver went up his spine. He could feel the effect getting worse with every passing minute that he waited as all of the Dementors on the Island were drawn to the fresh blood. The only prey within two miles.

He waited for as long as he could take the screams of his mother, the accusations of his ex-friends. Every bad memory he had ever accumulated flashed through his mind. By the time he chose to move on in his plan he was on his knees with tears flooding down his cheeks.

He slipped into his panther form just as the closest Dementor stopped in front of him and immediately the effect lessened though with this many Dementors near him and his already severe reaction to the creatures even his Panther mind couldn't completely protect him.

He slipped around an endless line of Dementors as he ran back up the corridor, back into the incinerator room and up the stairs to the normal prison. As soon as he broke through the door he was spinning around and morphing back into a human. He pulled up as much magic as he could to form a ball of pure energy in between his cupped hands and then with a mental and physical gesture thrust the bright blue and white ball up into the ceiling.

A loud explosion rocked the Island as a whole section of the cell block imploded into itself blocking the recently opened tunnel with thousands of tons of concrete and metal. James escaped the building as Shadow just as a cloud of dust burst through the door behind him. He loped across the courtyard before turning back into human form taking a quick look at the rising sun as he did so.

A last rumble of thunder announced that the storm was breaking up just as he prepared to apparate off the Island. Before he could however a massive wave of cold struck him followed swiftly by a return of his horrid memories. He span around to face the scaly face of a Dementor. Obviously one that hadn't been trapped under the rubble. It's hood was already down in preparation of the Dementors kiss.

James twisted away from the monsters skeleton like hands and morphed back into the sheltering form of Shadow but at this range the Dementor wasn't fooled; it knew it's prey. James tried to leap away but the creature grabbed at his pelt forcing James to twist. James swiped his claws at the monster and managed to wrench himself from the grip landing roughly. He slammed into the wall and roared at the creature with all his strength, the sound echoing for a few seconds between the buildings.

The beast swiped at him hitting him violently in the side throwing James into a pile of rubble. His body screamed in pain as a shard of glass sunk deeply into his side. A horrid scream bubbled up in his throat and he shrieked in pain. He rolled off of the shard slowly, falling to the ground as the movement caused more pain to lance up his side.

He pushed up from the ground, slowly regaining his feet as the creature closed the gap between them slowly. James tried to come up with an escape route but couldn't come up with one in the enclosed space with his injury. The creature's rattling breath sucked in air for a second before it's head spun to look behind it. It turned around and started gliding in the other direction for a few seconds. James braced himself to take the opportunity to escape.

The creature exploded into a black mist.

**Two minutes earlier**

Three bunches of orbs appeared in a small courtyard on Alcatraz Island. Paige, Piper and Phoebe emerged from one as Chris and Wyatt appeared in the other two.

"Is this the place?" Piper was already asking.

"Yeah, this is it. I saw the cloaked creatures here." Phoebe told them even as they all saw the two struggling figures.

"What is that?" Paige asked.

"It's one of the creatures I saw!" Phoebe gasped. Even as she said it she shivered realising the coldness of the air.

"That's a Panther!" Chris said in awe.

Wyatt gave him a confused look before they all realised that he was talking about the animal that was fighting to escape it. As they watched, it wrenched free of the monster's grip. They were forced to cover their ears as the Panther let loose a deafening roar before it slashed at the monster then lunged away only to be smacked aside by a skeletal hand.

The yelp from the Panther made Chris and Phoebe step forward automatically. The monster turned to look at them and they all fell to their knees as memories surfaced that they had all hoped never to remember again.

Piper snapped her hands up, her highly emotional state powering her magic as she blew the creature up into a fine black mist that lingered for a second being sinking into the ground and disappearing.

The group pulled themselves up, forcing down the memories the creature had induced and moved their way towards the Panther as it struggled to stand up. They could see the blood flowing slowly from a wound in it's side.

James looked at the five figures silhouetted by the rising sun and decided he didn't want to risk it. They were magic users and were obviously well trained to be able to kill a Dementor and as such would probably have no trouble recognising an Animagus. He growled menacingly at the group before slipping into the shadows. Pain lanced up his side as he moved away from the group.

He morphed into himself as soon as he was out of sight and with a small pop disapparated.

**James' flat**

James' apparition had gone awry. The stab wound in his side causing enough pain along with the reminder of his time with the Dementors of Azkaban to throw off the crucial concentration required for the magical form of transportation.

He landed a fast ten minute walk away but by the time he, with his injury, had covered the distance it was already eight o'clock. He eventually got back to his flat to find Sam laid out on the sofa watching Sunday morning cartoons like any self respecting twenty-one year old.

"Where's Jackie and Lucy?" James asked as he noticed Sam's bedroom door was open and the room beyond empty of life. He moved straight away into the kitchenette area and began looking through draws for his first aid kit.

"Jackie took Lucy to the airport, she had to get an early flight." Sam explained without looking at James, probably assuming that he was emptying shopping bags into the cupboards. "She's going straight home afterwards though, she said she'd call you after you finish work tomorrow to see how things went."

James cursed as he knocked the kettle off the counter in his rush to find what he was looking for. Sam looked over his shoulder and was on his feet a split second later.

"Jesus James! What the hell happened to you?" Sam cried as he crossed the room. "You're as pale as a ghost."

"I'm fine!" James lied but Sam wasn't fooled for a minute.

"Was wrong with your side?" Sam asked making James look down at where his right hand was clinging to his side even if he hadn't realised it. He looked at his hand as if it wasn't supposed to be there and slowly pulled it away from his side wincing at the pain and staring wide eyed at the blood covering his hand. His shirt, though dark was obviously stained with blood.

"Oh my god James! Is that blood?" James didn't answer only stared in mute shock at the blood on his hand. He tipped slightly and then looked up at Sam in confusion.

"Why are you here?" James' mouth spoke without his conscious control.

Sam ignored the question. "What happened to you?" He asked for the second time.

James frowned at him before realising that he was talking about the blood. "Oh that? I got stabbed." James told him before falling forwards and straight into his best friends waiting arms.

He blacked out just as his friend laid him on the carpet.


	4. Josh McKay

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 4; Josh McKay

James first became aware of a bright light. Even through his closed eye lids it burned at his eyes. Before he even tried to open that slight protection he heard familiar voices. Sam and Jackie and surprisingly Gemma, his unofficial student advisor.

The first though that went through his mind was why were the only three people that he knew in San Francisco and that he actually liked enough to trust be in the same room and why was he only just waking up.

He cracked open his eyes and gasped as the light burned straight into his eyes. As they adjusted he realised that the three familiar voices had gone quiet as if they had only just realised that he was awake. He took in the room as it slowly slipped into focus. And he almost groaned as he realised that he was in a hospital bed. His hand flinched as he almost reached for the bed side table for his glasses before stopping himself when he remembered that the action was pointless. He hadn't needed glasses since he had completed the Animagus transformation for the first time.

Two faces suddenly blocked out the light as they hovered over him. Gemma stood to his left whilst Jackie was grabbing his hand rather roughly as she hovered over his right side.

"How are you feeling?" Gemma asked him causing him to look at her strangely.

"What do you mean? Why am I here?" He frowned at the two of them as if they were hiding something from him.

"Sam brought you here this morning, you've been asleep most of the day." Jackie told him, "You came back this morning and collapsed. The Doctor said you were stabbed by some sort of glass shard."

The night before swam into clearer view. The Dementors and then the fight as a Panther that had ended in those witches and wizards destroying it and him getting stabbed by a piece of glass. Then he remember apparating and then walking home and he vaguely remembered Sam's voice and then this room.

He was interrupted from responding when Sam walked into the room closely followed by a white jacketed Doctor. "Good evening Mr. Evans. My name is Doctor Motak." The older man spoke kindly. "How are you feeling?"

Harry almost answered with his usual fine before actually trying to think about it. He took in his body and realised with a start that he couldn't move his right arm but then realised that it was because of the tight sling that held it across his chest. He moved it as far as possible and cried out as the motion sent waves of pain up his right side forcing the air from his lungs. He took deep breaths before looking back at the Doctor.

"My side hurts." He muttered before blushing at how pathetic he sounded, he hated showing weakness.

"I'm not surprised, you have a six inch gash starting from your seventh rib. Whatever stabbed you did so pretty deeply." The Doctor told him, "By the time the ambulance got you here you had already lost four pints of blood. It's a good thing you found your way home by yourself or else you would have probably died."

"Thank you, Sir." James told the man sincerely.

"Right now, your not to attempt to move your arm, it will only prolong the healing if you do. I'm going to be placing you on a course of antibiotics to stop any infection in the gash and also I will be issuing you with some mild painkillers to be used sparingly if the pain gets any worse."

"When can I leave?" James asked him quietly and then winced at the reminder of how many times he had asked that same question of Poppy Pomfrey.

The Doctor almost looked like he was going to laugh before a stern look covered his face. "Don't be hasty, Mr Evans." He told James. "You nearly died, we are keeping you in at least over night. We'll see how you are in the morning before deciding when to release you."

"It's my first day at work tomorrow though," James told the Doctor whilst trying to prop himself up on his right elbow to see the Doctor properly. He abruptly fell back again as a sharp pain tore through his left side. Gemma was at his side in an instant pushing him back again.

"We'll have to wait till the morning to see wont we." The Doctor told them with a frown before leaving the room.

"So, James, what happened?" Sam asked him bluntly as soon as the door closed.

James inwardly flinched at the oncoming lie but knew he would have to. "I don't remember, I was on my way back to the flat with the food when I felt a sudden pain in my side. I think someone stole the food." James put on a frown, "I don't remember much after that apart from thinking about getting back to the flat."

Gemma gave him a quick hug though it was very one sided, even without James' arm being in a sling. They were interrupted from anything else when a nurse entered the room followed by two police officers.

"I'm sorry," she spoke to Sam, Jackie and Gemma, "these two gentleman need a few minutes with Mr. Evans to take a statement."

"We'll need some privacy." One of the officers told the group simply. Jackie squeezed James hand briefly before she left with Gemma and Sam behind her.

James spent the next ten minutes describing every faked detail that he could supposedly remember. He made sure that there wasn't anything that could be used as evidence or leads in case they decided to look into it more carefully but he felt that he was pretty convincing. Eventually they left and Sam, Jackie and Gemma re entered.

They chatted aimlessly about anything they could think of, James discovered that Gemma had been at the college when the ambulance had arrived to pick him up and had followed with Sam to the hospital, they had called Jackie from there and she had come as soon as she could. It worried James slightly, this was the first time that their friendship had been truly tested and he was scared that the same thing would happen. He had to remind himself though that Hermione and Ron had already known him as the famous boy-who-lived when they had met him, whereas Sam and Jackie had gotten to know him properly before becoming friends. Gemma of course was a bit of an oddity, she had just appeared one day and had always been trying to help him, whether it was just comfort, for college or now for work.

After about half an hour of chatting the same nurse came back to tell the others that visiting hours were other and only family members could stay. Of course they kicked up a big fuss over it but James assured them that he would be fine and eventually they agreed to go.

"Sam?" James called just as he was about to leave. "Can you call Paige Matthews to let her know what happened?"

"Sure thing James, I'll swing by in the morning and see you. I'll take you to work too if they'll you out." Sam assured him.

"Thanks."

"Think nothing of it, now gets some rest." Sam laughed lightly as he left to room to catch up to the others.

James sighed and put his head back down on the pillow wincing at the strain it put on his side. What he wouldn't give for a magical hospital over months of painful healing but then he reminded himself that he would put up with pain twice this bad to stay away from the Wizarding world. His eyes drifted shut as he thought about those Witches and Wizards that had destroyed the Demon on Alcatraz, had they been saving him or had they been there for the same purpose as himself.

**Third Monday morning of July**

James woke as the Doctor from the night before entered his room. For an instant he was confused, like he always was when waking up in a strange place but he soon realised what was happening.

"Good Morning, Mr. Evans." The man greeted him neutrally, "Lets get a look at that gash of yours and we will see if you can leave. Mind you I don't like the idea of you going to work, but I think you're the sort of person that would go regardless of your health."

James didn't give a response to that as the Doctor had already started undoing the sling holding up his arm as if he wasn't expecting an answer. For the next fifteen minutes the Doctor examined everything about the gash and eventually started to re-bandage it explaining carefully to James how to do so.

"I don't see any signs of complications. I want to see you back here in one week, but if you get any continuous pain from it you are to check yourself into a hospital immediately, do I make myself clear, Mr. Evans?"

"Yes, Doctor." James said before realising what the Doctor had just implied. "Does this mean you're letting me out?"

"Yes, Mr. Evans," The Doctor sighed, "Though normally with a wound like yours we would keep you in for a couple of days under observation, but since it is your first day and that you will be in a setting that doesn't require any serious stress on your side I will allow it."

"Thank you, Doctor." James smiled and actually got a small one in return.

"You're welcome to leave as soon as your friend arrives to collect you. Though I will leave a form at reception for you to sign on your way out." With that the man left. James tried to get up to change but realised that it was a hopeless prospect so instead settled to wait for Sam to arrive and help him.

**San Francisco Social Services Centre.**

James struggled through the door to the centre with the help of Sam, who as well as supporting him was carrying James' jacket and a few files and boxes of reference books and knickknacks that they had swung back to James' flat for on the way, within them the files that Paige had given him on Thursday that he had dutifully read from cover to cover on Friday.

"Hi Courtney!" James greeted the shocked looking receptionist cheerfully.

"Oh God, James, Paige told us what happened but we didn't actually expect to see you in so soon!" The woman stood and came around the desk.

"I'm fine really, just a bit unsteady at the moment." A disbelieving snort from his best friend reminded him of his presence. "Oh sorry, Courtney, this is my best friend, Sam. Sam this is our receptionist Courtney."

"Hi, Sam." She received a smile in return before continuing, "Why don't you take James to his office and get him settled there, I'll send someone with his boxes in a second and I'll let Paige know that you're here." She took the boxes from Sam, setting them on her desk and disappeared through the large glass double doors leading into the main office.

James waved his good, right, arm towards the doors to direct his friend towards his office. On the way he received many well wishes from people he had never met, obviously the news of his 'stabbing' had spread quickly.

They reached his office with little trouble and Sam lowered him into his seat behind his desk just as a one of the social workers walked in with his two boxes and after he had placed the boxes on James' desk and left Paige walked in with a concerned look on his face.

"James! You shouldn't be at work so soon, you were stabbed just twenty four hours ago." She almost yelled looking firstly at James' sling then his side and finally looking eyes with him as she continued. "You should be at home resting."

"The Doctor only said I shouldn't do anything with my left arm, I can do that just as easily here as I can at home." James knew he didn't have her convinced so continued. "Besides if I have trouble here I will be surrounded by people that can help, if I go home I'll be on my own if something happened." He gave Sam a pointed look to tell him to shut his mouth as he opened it to argue that last point. Paige missed that look and sighed and James knew he had her.

"I may not like you being in so soon, but I am glad you are. The police have ordered the McKay's here at ten." She said referencing the case that James had already looked up. "I'll come get you before I go to meet them, I'm hoping you could take the boy away and talk to him, see what you can discover while we do the official business with his parents."

She was about to leave but turned around as she reached the door with a rather dark look on her face. "I don't like the look of this case, there is too much evidence pointing towards the abuse but the kid doesn't trust easily and the other child is too well looked after. Even so, I've already talked to a Judge, we have a possible two o'clock session if we want it."

James nodded slowly, he'd picked up the same things from the case files. Though he'd never met the family it was suspiciously like his aunt and uncle, though probably not for the same reasons. The ten year old was looked after brilliantly by all accounts but the eight year old seemed more the servant than anything.

James sighed and settled down again pulling one of his boxes to him. "Haven't you got that interview this morning with the museum?" James asked Sam, having almost forgotten after the weekends events.

"Yeah, but I called the Professor and explained what happened, so he postponed it until this afternoon." Sam explained. He had an interview to become the Museum's Professor of Artefacts' apprentice and James knew just how important this interview would be for his best friend.

"Still, you should go get ready, plus I'm sure that Jackie would like an update on me by now." James watched in satisfaction as a look of horror passed over his friend's face. Obviously he was supposed to have let Jackie know how James was. "Don't worry, Sam, I'll be fine here. I'll try and get a lift back with someone and if I cant I'll call you for a lift. Ok?"

"Are you sure you'll be ok?"

"I'll be fine, now go!" James told his friend sternly. They shared a quick, though careful hug before Sam started for the door. "Oh, Sam, not that you need it but good luck."

"Thanks." His friend whispered before slipping out of his office.

James spent the next half and hour setting up his office. With his side like it was he couldn't do much, but after an Assistant Social walked past his office door and saw James trying to plug in a small CD player on one of shelves he offered to help. Between him and Kevin, the assistant social worker, they managed to transform his rather bare office into something more like James' style. It was in a rather informal setting. His main desk and chair were pushed up to the far window, but still so that he could sit behind it and see the office door and window. The single book shelve was now filled with several reference books as well on a couple fiction books and even a couple of children's reading and colouring books. The two filing cabinets stood empty though they were now covered in a few plants that Kevin had liberated from different parts of the building.

The main part of the room was the two comfortable chairs that sat on either side of a small table to one side of the room. A place that James could talk to people without having to talk over his office desk. A handy thing to have, especially when talking to young children.

Before Kevin left he told James to yell if he needed anything at all in the future as his desk, though in the main office, was the nearest to James' office. James spent the next half an hour, rereading everything on the McKay case, there were several reports to the local police station from concerned neighbours over the years, all followed through but cleared. Also there were medical reports from several trips for broken bones and severe cuts, all checked up and 'honestly' reported as accidents.

Finally, there were several reports of anti-social behaviour from Josh, they were suspicious in nature but they did hold weight, he had several banning orders on both properties and commercial centres. James flipped through them again and was forced to notice the same thing he had the last time he looked. One of the witnesses for each occasion was his older brother Kyle. Why would an older brother stand witness against his own younger brother. And also, how could an eight year old get such a reputation?

James was interrupted from his thoughts when Paige knocked on his open office door. He looked up and smiled warmly at her. She looked over the files strewn across his desk and nodded in approval that he was taking this case seriously. He got to his feet as she stepped into the room.

"Courtney says that the McKay's are here. They've brought both children with them, though we only asked for Josh." She told them.

"Shouldn't Kyle be in school?" James asked.

"They're waiting in the lobby." She told him and he limped over to the door way. She offered him a shoulder to lean on but he mutely shook his head in response before straightening and walking normally out of his office, looking much like a perfectly healthy person if it wasn't for the sling holding up his left arm. As they walked down the corridor, through the main office and into the lobby she answered his question. "I haven't been to see him yet but according to Courtney they believe that both boys should be involved and since it is so close to the end of the year a day off school shouldn't be a problem."

"More like Kyle had a tantrum because Josh got off school and he didn't." James muttered remembering Dudley's tantrums when he didn't get something one of his friends had. Paige didn't say anything but she snorted with laughter obviously having come to a similar conclusion whilst looking into the case.

They both walked into the lobby side by side to face what they knew would be a tough case. Courtney was chatting to a small family on the other side of the small area but turned and gave them a strained smile when she saw them coming.

"Good morning Mr. McKay, Mrs McKay!" Paige smiled kindly at the parents. James looked over the small family. Mr. McKay was standing closest to him and Paige and came forward to shake Paige's hand then James'. Mrs McKay nodded but didn't move toward them. Instead she seemed to prefer to stand right beside the smaller of the two boys who James recognised from the files' photos as Josh. He looked every part the 'hooligan' that the file suggested he was. He was wearing torn loose jeans that seemed far to big for him as well as a black hoody.

In contrast Kyle looked every part the sensible child, he wore smart 'church-going' clothing that he really didn't look comfortable in. He stood on the other side of Josh to his mother as if protecting him but he obviously wasn't happy to be there even if it got him out of school.

James looked back over to the black haired Josh and looked thoughtfully at him, biting his lower lip as he realised just how similar he looked to James in his early youth. He shook himself out of his daze as he realised that Mr. McKay was talking to him.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I missed that." James told the man simply as if it was a daily occurrence.

The older man looked irritated for a moment before plastering a smile on his face. "I was just explaining Josh's lack of suitable clothing."

"Yes?" James said when he realised that the man wasn't going to actually explain it to him.

"As I just told this fine lady here," Paige giggled politely, "We tried to get him to wear something a tad neater but he really wasn't interested." He sighed dramatically and James noticed that his wife shook her head sadly as if this summed up Josh completely.

James looked at Josh's face to see an almost cold look, a strange look for an eight year old. The boy looked at James with a fierce expression as though he could think of a hundred better places that he could be at that moment.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. McKay, James here is going to look after the two boys this morning while we have a chat about young Josh. Don't worry," she assured the parent when they gave her a confused look. "James is trained in looking after kids, they'll be safe with him."

"Just as long as Josh doesn't give him any trouble." Mrs. McKay told them both.

"I will be fine, Mrs. McKay." James told the woman kindly. "Now, boys, why don't you follow me into my office? Courtney if you could get someone to bring us a couple of glasses of lemonade?" He suggested to the boys and then turned to Courtney.

"Sure James, I'll be right there with them."

Just as he led the two out of the lobby and into the main office he heard Mr. McKay remind the two to stay together and not be separated. James didn't look around but he thought it sounded like he was only talking to Kyle and not Josh. Surely if Josh was the rebellious child he would have directed it at him and not his abiding child.

James sat behind his desk to rest his aching side as they entered the room. He looked over the two boys and smiled at Kyle, though it was faked, as the older boy sat down on one of the chairs without asking. Josh remained standing.

"Why don't you take a seat, Josh?" He asked the boy with a real smile on his face.

Without waiting for his brother to sit, Kyle turned in his seat to face James. "Why's your arm in that thing?" He asked rather rudely.

"I hurt my side yesterday, the sling's just to keep me from aggravating it." James didn't miss the look that passed over Josh's face. It was obvious that the boy knew that the sling wasn't to protect his arm but his side.

"Josh, you seem to know what my sling does." James told the boy. "Have you much experience with these things?" Josh shifted in his chair, automatically putting some more distance between himself and his older brother. He opened his mouth to answer but was beaten to it.

"Josh is always hurting himself, mum says its because he's careless and always acting up." As soon as Kyle had given his answer Josh's face became expressionless.

Kevin walked knocked on the open door and when he received a smile from James walked in and placed the two glassed of lemonade on the small table in between the two boys. James stood and pulled Kevin aside to whisper in his ear. He got a nod from the slightly older man so turned to Kyle with a smile, duly noting that the boy had already drained his drink whereas Josh hadn't even touched his.

"You are quite the fidget aren't you Kyle. How about you go with Kevin here for a tour of the office?" James asked the boy who frowned obviously recounted something his parents had told him. "He can get you another drink as well." James bribed.

He quickly got an agreement as the overweight boy leapt out of seat and forgot all about his parents' orders in favour of a sugary drink. Kevin led the boy out of the room and closed the door with a snap behind them.

James slowly settled himself into the now vacated chair and sighed as it took pressure off of his side. He looked at the expressionless boy across from him.

But no matter how good the boy was at glares, cold looks and expressionless masks, he was nowhere near as good as James and couldn't hide the pained look in his eyes. Especially against James' slight legillimency skills that he had gained in Azkaban that told screamed at him with two things. The first and most relevant thing was that the boy was hiding pain, not rebellious thoughts. And the second and the most worrying was that the boy was scared of reprisals.

"Now that you censure is gone, Josh, how about you drop that mask of yours and we can get down to business."

Josh's eyes widened slightly and part of his mask crumbled but he was able to keep it up. "Censure, Sir?" He asked obviously unsure of the meaning.

"It means someone that controls what you say." James explained with a sigh. "In your case, Kyle was brought along by your parents to stop you saying something you shouldn't."

Josh seemed to accept that rather than deny it but didn't offer anything so James prompted him.

"What don't they want you to tell me, Josh?" He asked kindly but the boy just looked at him expressionlessly. "Ok then, how about we have a look through a copy of your file and you can tell me about the things in there?"

He didn't get a response but the boy was obedient when James asked him to grab the now shut file on his desk with McKay written on it. He laid it flat on the table top.

"This, Josh, is a record that we keep on a case. This one involves all of your family but mainly yours." James explained without opening it. "We add everything to it that we can find about the case. What do you think yours is about?"

"My behaviour?" The boy's voice was scratchy rather than soft like most children and very unsure, not right for a boy that was supposed to be such a 'hooligan'.

"That's half of it, can you guess what the other half is?" James asked but only received a shake of his head. "It is all about your families behaviour. You family is here today to discuss not only your behaviour but also, and more importantly, about their behaviour towards you." A panicked look passed across the boy's face and he glanced down at the file. "Is there something you'd like to tell me about that?"

"No, Sir." Josh muttered.

"Let's have a look and see what is in here then shall we?" James asked and opened the file to Josh's school reports. "According to your teachers you are top of your classes in everything but Sports and Drama, you are a year above at Art and Maths. And your Principal has you down as a nice boy. Though there are a few things here that mark your record. There is your home room tutor's recommendation that you see a councillor and also a few fights involving your brother and his friends. Why did Mrs. Michaels want you to see a Councillor?"

James knew very well why as it was written on one of the report cards that Josh's parent would have received and then again in his permanent file when he didn't actually attend the appointment that his parents had booked for him. James met the boy's eyes as he tried to think of an answer.

"Did you know that your parents were advised to take you to one?" James asked and received a shake of the head. So they set an appointment and made it look like Josh had skived off of it by not telling him about it. "Can you guess what your tutor wanted you to go for?"

"My behaviour problems?" This answer seemed to be Josh's automatic response, everything seemed to be blamed on his 'behaviour' though so far James only had the parents word that there was a problem with his behaviour. That and a few behavioural orders by the police that were suspicious in themselves.

"No, Josh." James looked straight at the boy. "Mrs. Michaels wanted you to see a councillor to sort out your shyness as well as your flight symptoms. That's your tendency to run and hide from questions by your teachers." James explained at Josh's confused look.

"Why do you think you are here, Josh?" James asked.

"Because my parents have to speak to Mrs. Matthews about my problems." Josh offered, obviously remembering what he had been told by his parents.

"That's not true, really it is the other way around. Your parents were told to bring you in to discuss the problems but it is they that are being studied. Not you." James got a confused look. "You are here so that I can find out what is really going on in your family and address the matter."

Josh looked scared for a moment. "There is nothing for you to worry about, it will be impossible for them to lie their way out of this office Josh, everyone here is trained to see problems beneath the surface even if you don't want us to see them."

"But there isn't a problem with my family, Sir."

"Lets have a look at the next section shall we." James said turning to another part of the file, the one containing Josh's behavioural orders. "Do you know what these are?"

Josh nodded looking at them. "There are five," James continued, "each for a different area that you are not allowed to go to. Attached to them are the incident reports that led to their being issued."

Josh nodded having been told about them when they were issued. "I've noticed one thing about them," James told him whilst fanning them out and highlighting the witness reports. "In every case the witnesses were either your brother, his friends or younger children in you school. Why is that?"

"I don't know." Josh told him obviously lying.

"I know your lying, Josh," James said looking the boy in the eyes. "I can see it in your eyes. You know what I think, I think that these should be your brothers. That or his friends."

Josh's eyes wondered and James knew he had hit the nail on the head, but knew not to push the boy into a direct answer so soon. He flipped to the next section of the file and continued as if he hadn't just tricked the boy into revealing a life long hidden truth.

"Now, I know you wont know about these. They are letter sent to the police that they forwarded to us." James said producing fours letter and stapled to each an official statement. "These are letters from concern citizens. The first is from your school, written by Mrs. Michaels. The others are form Nigel Dawson, Nicola Weathers and Tina Wellbridge. Do you know these last three?"

Josh nodded and James decided this time to make the child actually give an answer verbally. He raised an eyebrow in question and Josh caught his meaning. "Miss. Weathers and Mr. Dawson are our neighbours. Mrs. Wellbridge owns the shop on the corner. I go in there sometimes when I have to buy something for my mum."

"Well they all noticed something wrong and with so many reports we sent people out to take official statements, that why we have a file on you. With these for testimonies, especially your neighbours ones who have both actually seen your father hitting you, all I need is your own testimony and I can move to have their custody of you revoked. You'd be moved to wherever you would be happiest or into a foster family that myself and Mrs. Matthews would choose for you."

A glimmer of hope shone in the boys eyes but it went as if the boy had remembered a threat from his father.

"Did you parents tell you never to discuss what they do to you to anyone?" Josh shook his head violently but James just kept looking at the boy until he lowered his head in a small nod. When Josh looked back up he had tears on his cheeks. James stood in an instant and moved to the side of the table to crouch before the crying eight year old, regardless of the pain that shot up his side at the quick movement. He grabbed the boy hands in his right hand and Josh latched onto them as if he hadn't had any intimacy in years.

"Do you parents strike you?" James asked looking into the boys eyes again to show how sincere he was. This time he got a quiet yes. "For what reason?"

It took a couple of attempts this time to get a straight answer but eventually Josh got the words out. "When I don't get the chores done, or don't do what they say, or when I do better then Kyle in school."

"What do they do to punish you?" The boy almost gratefully described to James everything his father of mother usually did to him when he was bad.

"Can you show me your arms Josh?" James asked looking at the boys eyes again.

He took one hand out of James right hand and pulled up his left sleeve showing an array of cuts and bruises working their way up his exposed arm and then under his sleeve again.

"When was the last time he did something to you?" James asked.

"Last night," Josh burst into tears then launching himself into James for a hug that James responded to regardless of the pain it caused him. "It was a warning of what would happen if I told someone something bad today."

"Don't worry, Josh, I wont let them hurt you again. Today is the day your life will change. One last thing Josh, is there anything he had done to you that is worse then the cuts and bruises." James asked, dreading the worst.

"He broke my arm once." Josh said and James almost let out a sigh of relief but covered it as a sorrowful one. "He said it was for being a freak. Kyle was thrown off of the playground climbing frame when I was six and they couldn't work out how it had happened. Kyle broke his arm."

"So your father broke yours?" James said in understanding. "Ok, Josh, I need to go and talk to Mrs. Matthews but I will be back. I'm going to call for Kevin and he'll look after you while I'm gone."

Josh looked panicked for a second so James assured him. "Kevin's a very nice man, he wont let you out of his sight." James stood and walked to the desk. "I need my hand Josh." James laughed kindly to lighten the mood as he tried to reach his phone but Josh shook his head and clamped on to James' hand even tighter as if scared to lose him.

"Ok then, Josh, you can do it then. Just press the circular button at the bottom of the number pad." Josh did as told and Courtney's voice came across the speaker.

"Yes?" She asked. Most people obviously didn't use this system in this office.

"Courtney, its James. I cant leave here, but can you find Kevin and Kyle and tell Kevin come to my office. Can you keep Kyle with you there though and I'll collect him in a minute?"

"Sure thing, James." The line went dead and James sat on the edge of the desk to ease the pain in his side.

"Are you ok, Sir?" Josh asked him in concern.

"I'm fine, just hurt my side is all. And you can call me James now, ok?" He smiled at the child and got one in return.

"Ok, James!" The boy said happily. Just then the door opened, Josh ducked to James' other side before James could react. James smiled at Kevin.

"It's ok, Josh." James said pulling Josh out from his side. "You remember Kevin, he brought you that drink you didn't touch." Josh seemed to look at the glass as if he had only just realised it was there. "Kevin, can you watch Josh for a while, I need to go discuss matter with Paige." Kevin nodded and held out a hand for Josh who after looking at James for a second took it and went to stand by his side.

James grabbed the file off of the desk but turned to Kevin as he left. "He isn't to be taken out of this office under anyone's order but my own. Ok?"

"Sure." Kevin told him. "How about we try one of these books of James'?" James heard as he left the room.

James walked into the main office with a dark look across his face, as soon as he limped in silence fell across the room. James ignored all of them in preference to striding to the main lobby doors. He slammed them open and strolled into the room. James completely ignored Kyle who was sat in one of the chairs with a chocolate bar in his hand and looked at Courtney.

"Which conference room are they in?" James asked her simply.

"Number two." Courtney told him automatically, "Wait, James, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing permanent!" James snarled quietly with a smirk. "Kyle!" James raised his voice. The boy looked up from his chocolate bar and grudgingly got to his feet.

James limped off towards the conference room with Kyle strolling along behind him, when he reached the room he could see Paige in the room with the McKays but no-one else.

James slammed open the door making the three jump in their seats, the Mckays spun in their seats and Paige's hand flinched dropping her empty glass to the table top. "Paige, I need to see you outside now."


	5. Retribution

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 5; Retribution

**P3; Monday evening**

Paige was sitting in their private booth at her sister's club with said sister, Piper, and her eldest two nephew's Chris and Wyatt.

"You should have seem him Piper!" Paige gushed, "It was awesome. I've never seen a Judge end a hearing so quickly, especially with all the evidence going against the kid."

Piper smiled. "Is he coming tonight then? I see a few of your work friends around."

"Yeah, we're here to celebrate. Josh made quite an impression with a few of the staff. Especially Kevin there." She told her older sister pointing out the tall dark hair young man at the bar with a few others from her office. "James just saw straight through the family's lie, and I mean a lot of lies here, there were behaviour orders and police reports against Josh and he still made the Judge see what he wanted."

"So," Wyatt asked, "Where is the kid now?"

"He's staying with one of our regular foster families until a permanent place can be found for him. Until then he has a restraining order against his parents and brother." Paige explained.

"What's going to happen to the McKay's?" Chris asked.

"They'll probably be a criminal investigation." Paige sighed. "They wont get time as the only thing they can convict them of is either neglect or mistreatment which doesn't normally carry that high a punishment."

"So," Wyatt said in the same tone. "Where is this genius of Psychology?"

Chris surprised everyone by elbowing his brother harshly but still laughed.

"He took Piper's warning to heart and is waiting for his friend Sam." Paige explained, her eyes glinting at the look on Piper's face. "I dropped him home before coming here. He should be here soon."

As if on cue they heard Kevin yell James' name from the bar. They all looked around to Kevin and then followed his line of sight to the stairs and James and Sam.

"He really doesn't like crowds does he?" Wyatt muttered under his breath but the other still heard him. He was right though, James had gone pale at the attention but seemed to draw himself up and then winced as it obviously hurt his side. He walked with Sam supporting him slightly over to his new friends at the bar.

"Chris, Wyatt," Piper said, "Why don't you go and bring them other hear, tell Mike that whatever they order is on the house."

**P3; slightly before.**

"You are such a clutz, James!" Sam laughed even as they navigated the stairs.

"It was the curbs fault, not mine!" James protested whilst prodding his hurt side with his right hand.

"James!" Someone yelled across the room at them during a lull in the current song playing on the speakers. James felt the blood run out of his face but was determined to put on a brave face. He let his hand drop to his side carelessly and straighten up to face the crowd. He winced at the sight of so many people focused on him and also from the sharp pain that lanced up his side as he stretched his ribs.

"Who's that?" Sam asked as he led James towards the bar.

"That's Kevin." James explained, he knew that Sam just wanted to know whether to trust the man before them. "He's ok, he helped me set up my office this morning and looked after Josh for a while."

"Yeah, while you went to kick the shite out of that whale!" Kevin laughed as he caught the tail end of the conversation.

Sam turned as the barman caught his eyes. He ordered both of them a pint of coke as he was driving.

"Mum says to make that on the house, Mike!" A deep voice made James leap around, then settle with a small yelp as the sudden movement tore at his side.

"James! What did I tell you about sudden movements?" Sam teased his best friend light-heartedly.

"Shut it, you git!" James almost snarled, though it lost most of its effects as he was clutching his side. The two new comers chuckled at the argument.

"Oops." The young man said. "Sorry about that, didn't meant to make you jump. The names Wyatt." He turned to introduce his brother but was interrupted.

"Chris right?" James asked peering closely at the twenty-one year old. "I remember you both from the other night. Thanks for your help."

"No problem." Chris told him quietly though still audibly over the clubs speakers. "My mum wants you to join us and Aunt Paige."

"Yeah, I think mum wants to make sure you're not drinking alcohol in her club." The obviously older brother told them with a laugh.

Sam grabbed their drinks and he and James followed the two brothers across the floor to a quieter alcove to one side that they remembered seeing the group in the week before. James had a noticeable list by the time he reached the alcove and he gratefully collapsed around the table. He let Chris slide into the seat first so that the slightly older man was sitting on the back bench. Sam closed James off to the world by sitting on the end of the bench so that Wyatt was opposite them, with Paige and then Piper sitting opposite James. The opening to the alcove was open to the club but the space itself helped to quieten the noise from the crowd.

They chatted meaninglessly for a while, firstly about James' success that day, then about his degree but soon seeing that James was uncomfortable being the centre of attention Paige led the conversation onto Chris' degree and their own work.

Sam was talking about his own new job at the museum when James felt the trickle of a liquid running down his side. He slide his hand under his sling and shirt to touch at his bandage.

Wyatt, being the only one watching him, spoke up. "Are you alright there, James?"

"Oh I didn't tell you guys did I?" A chirpy Paige cut in on James attempt at brushing the problem off. "James was stabbed on Sunday morning on the way home."

"And you still went into work today?" Piper asked astonished.

"It was my first day. I didn't want to let Paige down." James said rather meekly at the concern in her voice.

"You know, I think Aunt Paige would have understood." Chris laughed just as James pulled his hand out of the tail of his shirt. The light was too dim for most to see what was on it but James didn't need to see it before he knew what it was. His Animagus senses still worked when he was in his human form, though not as strongly. Chris was close enough to make out the substance though as James was about to hide it. "Is that blood!?"

"What!?" Sam cried twisting in his seat.

"It's nothing." James assured them, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the blood from his hand. "It does this if I move it too much." He tried to assure them.

"Oh god." Wyatt put in, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump that much."

"It wasn't you, I tripped on a curb outside the club and it must have opened up the gash." James assured the older man.

"Ma'am?" Sam said ever so politely. "Could we go somewhere private? He wont ask but I really should check his bandage and possibly change it."

"You really don't need to call me "Ma'am."" Piper chuckled though she glanced at James' sling carefully. "Boys? Why don't you take them both into my office, there is a sink and some clean towels in there he can use."

"You really don't need to go to that much trouble." James insisted even though Sam was already tugging him carefully out of his seat.

Piper just smiled as Sam pulled James along in Chris and Wyatt's wake. "I wouldn't want the person Chris has a crush on to bleed to death in my club now would I?" Piper whispered to her younger sister who laughed in return.

**Halliwell Manor; Two weeks later**

Two figures dressed in white stood serenely in the lush garden of the simple suburban manor house that was home to the greatest collection of magic users in the United States. If they were Evil they would probably already be dead or if not were about to be in serious trouble.

In fact they weren't Evil, they were one of the most symbolic icons of Good. Angels. Or more specifically Whitelighters.

"All we were told was that something huge is about to occur that would throw everything into disarray." One spoke in his wizened voice.

"Disarray towards Evil or Good though is the question." The younger stated simply.

"That is not for us to decide though we all wish it was for Good." The first spoke again, "We must only do our part in this and aid where we can."

"That is where I am confused," the younger pointed out. "You are here to warn the lead the Charmed Ones in the right direction, but my new charge hasn't even come into his powers yet. And even if he had they are not of their kind."

"Yet he still has a Whitelighter, which means that he must be some part their kind." The older sighed, "He is the link between the two greatest Powers here."

"To reach _him_?" He said, almost whispering the last part.

"_His_ Whitelighter can not yet reveal herself without losing his trust. We have all witness part of what he has suffered. Even the Charmed Ones have not suffered loss like this one has." The older Whitelighter sighed. "They must meet and we must point them towards that meeting."

"If I am to protect the child in this, and you are to lead the Charmed Ones to my charge," the younger man stated before asking the question. "How is _he_ going to get there? If _his _Whitelighter cannot reveal herself?"

"He has a Whitelighter because he has their kind of Powers, one of those Powers will lead him there."

"But only the Angels of Destiny can provoke a Seer's visions." The younger gasped.

"Then the Angels of Destiny assist us in this." The older stated bluntly.

A flurry of blue-white orbs appeared beside them, completing a triangle, before a woman wearing a pure white coloured hooded cloak emerged from them.

"It is time." She told them quietly, "He is already on the move. Remember, we can not afford to lose my charges trust by revealing his identity."

The younger laughed slightly, "That is why you are the only Whitelighter to actually know _his_ identity."

She smiled at the young Whitelighter from under her cloak. "That is true. Now go, you know what to do."

**James' flat**

James flung himself up from his bed, pieces of his dream slamming together in his mind to form the whole picture, terrible as it was.

He'd had them before, dreams preceding actual events but never had he wanted to do something about it so bad. He had promised Josh that nothing would happen to him and Josh being shot in the chest with a shotgun wasn't part of the deal.

He was infinitely glad that his side had healed enough that he didn't need the sling and had almost full use of his torso again. Two weeks of forced rest courtesy of Sam and most of the team at the social centre and seen a rapid improvement. He wouldn't be dodging any bullets anytime soon but he was on the mend. He leapt out of his bed and threw his clothing on as fast as humanly possible before the crack of his departure echoed across the now empty room.

**Daly City, (south west of San Francisco)**

James reappeared immediately in the back garden of Josh's new foster families house. It was only a temporary placement until a more permanent placing could be found but it was still a very nice family. The couple were used to neglected or abused children and often took a few in in this sort of situation.

James instantly saw the figure of an overweight man at the back door with a crowbar. The man jumped at the sound of James' entrance and spun around but James was faster, Panther reflexes honed in even in his human form. He stepped back into the shadows even as his form rippled seamlessly into that of his Animagus shape.

The man, now clearly recognisable with Shadow's enhanced sight as Ian McKay, turned back to the door with a slight shrug, obviously not detecting James and soon wrenched the door open with the crowbar. He grabbed at an item propped against the wall and entered through the door. James recognised the object as the shotgun from his dream and leapt forwards out of the shadows.

The kitchen was empty when James entered it through the still open back door, the light wasn't on but the side door, leading to another room was just swinging closed. He nudged it open and entered what looked like a dining room. To his annoyance he watched as the hallway door swung shut. He followed Ian McKay through the house in this fashion till the man reached a bedroom on the second floor. Ian entered the room, not noticing the Panther dogging just four metres behind him.

James recognised the room straight away as Josh's room and the room from his dream. The man paused at the bottom of his son's bed and loaded two bullets into the gun.

At that point James decided to make his move, with a quiet growl he had the older man's attention. He swung around with the shotgun out in front of him.

"What the hell!?" McKay shouted causing the small eight year old to jerk awake. James growled again as he stalked forwards, not needing to glance away from the shotgun to see that Josh had curled up in his bed.

Ian was confused, never having seen a black panther before, especially in a house. James prowled around in a lazy pattern and eventually made it to a position between Ian and Josh. "Trying to protect that freak are you?" Ian laughed and levelled the gun.

They heard a scuffing from the room next door signalling that Josh's temporary foster parents had heard the commotion. James heard a group of people outside the house and hoped that somehow help had arrived. He drew in a full lungful of air. His roar shook the room. Ian stumbled backwards violently hitting up against a wardrobe. A door slammed open down the hall and a cry came from outside the house.

Even before his call had finished he saw Ian take a better grip on his weapon and James leapt aside as it went off with a loud crash. The scatter shot mainly missed but a few pellets grazed his flank throwing off his landing. He yelped as pain surged up his side, fortunately the opposite side to his previous injury.

He heard a yell from the hallway and before he could recover from his position against the side of the bed six people burst through the door. Two people who James recognised as the couple who were fostering Josh, followed by four people that James definitely recognised. His boss, her two sisters and Chris.

He didn't have time to think about how they knew that Josh was in trouble because Ian was already spinning to face the new intruders with his shotgun. A serious mistake with a Panther in the room.

James' Panther instincts screamed at him as Ian presented the back of his neck. A Panther's natural target. James leapt just as Piper cried out and two hundred pounds of predator slammed into the man from behind. Before James could realise what he was actually doing he felt his teeth tear into his targets flesh.

Ian's body fell to the ground under him and he ripped his head away from the now dead body. James growled at the fallen man as he stepped back and then looked up at the occupants of the room. He was pleased to see that Paige and the foster couple were already at Josh's side and were leading him out of the room. Piper, Phoebe and Chris were keeping a close eye on him. He twisted slightly to test the pellet wound on his side and was glad that they didn't seem serious.

He stared at them with his bright green eyes for a few seconds, looking at each carefully until his vision locked with Chris' blue eyes. James' panther instinct backed down and he almost whimpered as he realised that Ian McKay was dead. This was the first person that he had chosen to kill. At least with Quirrel it had been an accident, this time he had chosen to take the man's life to protect someone he cared about.

He settled down onto his haunches to show that he had no intentions of attacking them but never took his eyes off of Chris. In the silence he heard it before the others did, the distant sound of sirens. Someone had obviously heard either his call or the gunshot and called the police. He swung his head towards the window to listen better to the approaching sounds and then after tensing his leg muscles leapt across the room and out through the open second floor window.

His body absorbed the almost fifteen metre drop with only a small amount of pain and soon he was loping down the street. He turned into a nearby park and disappeared into the darkness where he turned back into his human form and with tears starting to form in his eyes he disappeared with a crack.

**Josh's room**

"Yes, Officer, like I told you." Piper repeated irritated, "A Panther killed him."

"And that Panther is where?" The officer obviously didn't believe them.

"It jumped out of the window." Paige almost yelled at the man.

"Sure." The officer sighed.

"Well, there is shotgun bullet damage to the wall here." A forensic told them all. "It suggests that the gun was fired from a height higher than the target."

"Meaning?" The officer asked.

"That it was fired at something lower to the ground than a person." The forensic told the man.

More questions were asked as McKay's body was taken out of the room. A neighbour, the one that had originally called the police, had reported sighting a large cat leaping from the window and running off down the street so the police officer was forced to believe their story.

Within an hour the group of four were back at the manor sitting in the living room with Leo and a rather irritated Wyatt who had orbed over from his own apartment.

"That was the same Panther that we saw on Alcatraz island." Chris told them all.

"How can you be sure?" Wyatt asked his little brother.

"He just seemed the same to me, he had those weird green eyes." Chris explained and got nods from the others that had been at Josh's house.

"What was he doing there?" Leo asked.

"He seemed to be protecting Josh when we arrived." Piper told them.

"He was bleeding. I think that shot we heard must have grazed him." Paige mentioned, "I collected as much of the blood on the bed as I could. Maybe we can use it to scry for him?"

"As an enemy or a friend?" Chris asked. "I think friend personally."

"Why do you say that?" Phoebe asked.

"Didn't you see him settle down after he killed McKay?" Chris muttered thinking but didn't add what he thought.

"Well I think that's enough for tonight, everyone get some rest and we'll scry for the Panther in the morning since it is Sunday tomorrow and nobody is working." Piper ordered.

People started to disperse. Wyatt grabbed Phoebe and orbed out of the room taking her home just as Paige and Chris orbed out to their respected homes.

**Chris flat**

Chris reappeared in his bedroom and began undressing to collapse straight into bed. He only managed to get rid of his shirt before Wyatt appeared from a cloud of orbs at the foot of his bed, falling over an open chest of draws as he did so.

"Damn it, Chris!" Wyatt grumbled, "Don't you ever tidy?"

"Don't give me that crap, Wyatt. Your room is just as bad." Chris grinned. "Why are you in my room in the first place."

"One, my powers still out." Wyatt told him. His buildings fuse had blown two days ago and had yet to be repaired. "So I aim on crashing here."

"In my bed?" Chris asked tiredly.

"Not like we haven't shared one before." Wyatt pointed out. "I'm too tired to care."

"And two?" Chris prompted.

"I want to know what's up with you and the Panther." Wyatt told his brother whilst taking off his own shirt and slipping under the covers next to Chris.

"Promise you wont tell anyone else? Not even mum?" Chris asked.

"Sure." Wyatt promised.

"The panther has these unmistakable eyes. I remembered them from somewhere else." Chris explained. "From when we were helping Sam change James' bandages. The Panther had exactly the same eyes as James does."

"So?" Wyatt prompted.

"Remember the first time we met the Panther out on the Island. We saw him get stabbed in the side, then James gets stabbed in the same place." Chris pointed out. "And I bet that James now has pellet wounds on his other side. I think James _is _the Panther."

"And you don't want to tell mum this, why?" Wyatt asked.

"Wyatt, I really like him." Chris blushed, "He hasn't hurt us, and you know how skittish he is. Please don't say anything."

"Don't worry little bro." Wyatt smile before switching off the bedside lamp. "I wont tell anyone that your crush is really a Panther." Chris smacked him on the shoulder before placing his head on the pillow.

Wyatt sighed, looking at his little brother in the dark. '_Don't worry, Chris, I wont let anyone harm him as long as he doesn't try to hurt you.'_


	6. Golden Marina Orphanage

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 6; Golden Marina Orphanage

**Chris's flat.**

"What are we going to do?" Chris asked Wyatt once they were settled on his sofa with coffee to wake up after their late night.

"What do you mean?" Wyatt asked sleepily as he down half his coffee before spluttering at how hot it was.

"Aunt Paige wants us at the Manor at ten to help scry for the panther." Chris stammered.

"And…?" Wyatt questioned.

"We cant let them find him until we're sure what's happening." Chris pointed out.

"Why not?" Wyatt asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, if he's good then mum will understand."

"But you've heard the way Aunt Paige goes on about him. That he's hiding some nasty past or something." Chris objected. "What if confronting him like this only brings back something he is running from?"

"What if he's done something bad and that's what he's running from?" Wyatt asked sternly. "How do we know we're not just going to be helping a criminal?"

"We don't know that for sure, Wyatt." Chris sighed.

"And you want a chance to find out first before they confront him?" Wyatt sighed, already knowing the answer. "Fine. We'll need to get the shrouding spell from the Book of Shadows."

"Come on then!" Chris bolted upright, orbing out as soon as his cup was placed on the coffee table.

Wyatt shook his head before following his younger brother to the attic of their childhood home.

**Halliwell Manor**

"Being that's sought by good, by evil.

Let them be shrouded from sight by magic."

"That's it?" Chris asked astonished after they had chanted it three times.

"According to the book it only goes into effect if someone tries to find him. It uses our power and as long as our combined power is greater than that of the person seeking them it will work. If not it will just throw them off." Wyatt explained.

"So it should work then?" Chris asked. "As long as they don't use a spell calling on the Power of Three."

"What are you two doing up here?" Their mum's voice called as she opened the attic door.

"Just getting an early start." Wyatt smoothly lied as he flipped the page of the book as though it was the very thing he had been doing that morning.

"Any luck?" Piper queried.

"Not yet." Wyatt sighed, in all the years the only thing that mentions animals like that is with shape shifters.

"What about a sorcerer?" Piper asked, "We know they can turn people into animals."

Wyatt and Chris were interrupted as Paige arrived with Phoebe in a swirl of orbs. "What've we got so far?" Phoebe asked as soon as they were corporal.

"So far, only a sorcerer turning into an animal." Chris sighed. "But I never knew one to turn himself into one. Don't they normally use it as a curse?"

"Maybe this guy is cursed?" Paige suggested, "We have only ever seen the Panther in the night time. Maybe he did something to annoy the Sorcerer and is now cursed."

"Which would make him an innocent." Chris added.

"Well, he didn't seem to be wanting help." Piper pointed out. "But a Whitelighter did point us in that direction."

"Well lets find him then." Phoebe chirped getting up and grabbing the road map of San Francisco off the chair and unrolling it on the table. "Did you bring up the blood we got last night?"

"Sure." Piper pulled out a small vial with an even smaller amount of blood in the bottom. She grabbed the crystal off the table and dipped it into the vial.

Whilst the three sisters crowded around the map, Chris shared a concerned look with his older brother. "Why are we protecting him again?" Wyatt asked. "Even they think he is an innocent now."

"I don't know, its just a feeling." He whispered back just as quietly. "Just trust me would you?"

"Fine, but if this goes pear shaped its your fault." Wyatt whispered back fiercely.

"I don't believe this!" Paige cried. "It's not even trying to find anything."

"We'll just keep trying." Piper said.

"If he is a mortal cursed by a sorcerer it probably wouldn't track him during the day." Chris pointed out truthfully.

Paige dropped the crystal in a huff just as a crash sounded downstairs. They all span to the attic door but stopped dead when Piper's youngest Anna came stomping into the room.

"Mum!" Fourteen year old Anna whinnied, "Prue levitated with the phone again and I wanted to call Ashley."

Ashley was Paige and Henry's youngest actual daughter, her and Anna were quite close since Ashley was thirteen and they were the only two that took after their Aunt Prue in Astro-projecting.

Piper sighed dramatically as she strolled out of the room towards the ground floor. Wyatt and Chris prepared themselves for the yell and weren't disappointed. "Oh, aren't we glad we don't live here any more." Wyatt laughed.

"Wyatt!" Phoebe reprimanded him. "That's not very nice."

"Well," Wyatt mock sighed. "Since our search has come out empty, me and Chris have things to do."

"Just wait one moment, Chris!" Paige interrupted. "We're going shopping remember."

"Oh, come on Auntie Paige!" Chris groaned. "I thought you were kidding."

"Good luck, lil' bro!" Wyatt laughed and then dodged Chris' hand by orbing out.

"I took your older brother when he graduated." Paige argued.

"He didn't already have a flat though." Chris protested even as he was dragged down the stairs with Phoebe quietly snickering behind him. "I have everything I need for my place."

"I'm sure we'll find something." Paige chirped. "Besides you promised."

Chris rolled his eyes but knew he didn't really have a choice. Beside it had been a while since he had spent any alone time with one of his aunts.

**Social Service Centre**

James smiled at Courtney as he strolled in. He'd got a call not half an hour ago and driven in.

"Paige should be in soon." Courtney told him.

"Do you know what this is about?" He asked conversationally as he leaned against the desk. Last nights scraps were still a bit on the sore side, though they weren't dangerous to him.

"Not a clue," She sighed. "Though I do know it was a report on one of the smaller orphanages. The police forwarded to us rather than do anything about it."

"Figures." James sighed. "I'm a bit tired, I'm going to grab a coffee."

"Ok, I'll send someone to get you when Paige arrives." She assured him.

James glanced through the stalls as he walked to the coffee machine looking for friendly faces. He was surprised that there were so few people around but then remembered that since it was a Sunday the only people that would be in were Courtney and somebody to work the phone. They'd only call someone in if they needed them.

He settled comfortably into his cushioned chair to wait, bringing up the reports screen on his computer. It was a system that allowed anyone with enough clearance to view each of the situations that the centre was dealing with. He read up on the current one, though it wasn't fully listed yet.

However was working the phone was quick to already have it up and running, though on a Sunday that wasn't surprising since there wasn't much to do. The orphanage was the Golden Marina Orphanage. One of the smaller centres in the city, designed to only hold thirty children with three members of staff. A local resident had reported screaming from the centre which wasn't surprising with so many children but they also reported an adult yelling and something breaking so called the police.

Under comments the report only had 'Awaiting visit,' and under report supervisor it only said 'Not yet assigned.'

That was probably all they were going to get apart from that the report was from that morning at eight o'clock. No surprise that it had taken nearly two and half hours for the police to assign the task to them.

"Hey, James." Came Paige's cheerful greeting. "How was your weekend going?"

"Hi, Paige. Weekend's been good." James responded with a smile and then seeing Chris behind her felt his smile get the slightest bit bigger. "Hi, Chris. What are you doing here?"

"We were shopping." Chris groaned with a mock roll of the eyes making James laugh.

"It's like that then is it?" James smirked at Paige.

"Oh, don't you start, I was being the perfect loving Auntie!" Paige stuck out her tongue. Neither her, nor Chris missed how fake James' smile became at the mention of her being a 'perfect loving Auntie.' "Did you read up on the Orphanage?"

"Yeah." James replied.

"Then you know as much as I do." Paige sighed. "I cant pull anyone else in to go with you. But I'm sure if we ask Chris here nicely he wouldn't mind pretending to be your assistant." She looked at Chris as she finished.

"Anything's better than shopping." Chris grinned before dodging his Aunt's playful swat.

"Does this mean I get an assistant?" James joked.

"Yeah, don't get used to it though." Paige smirked. "Even I don't get my own assistant. Do you have a cell?"

"No, never needed one." James pointed out.

"We can use mine if we need to." Chris offered waving his own to prove his point.

"We better go then." James said, "We'll call you as soon as I have something to report."

He pulled himself up from his chair trying to ignore the slight pain in his side and not noticing the look he was getting from Chris.

"We'll take my car." James said as they left the building.

"That's good, because I let Paige drive into town." Chris grinned as they got into James' car.

They chatted on the brief journey through the city centre to a residential area on the Northern side where they came across an old looking three story building. They parked in the small three bay private car park between a minibus and another private car.

"Remember, you're my assistant." James told Chris.

"Yes, mum." Chris winked at him as James spluttered.

"God, you're horrid!" James slapped him lightly on the arm before grinning. "At least I know you take after you Aunt Paige. Do you enjoy spending your weekends shopping?"

"I got tricked into making a promise!" Chris stammered as the table was turned.

"Yeah, yeah. So you say." James winked back and then went serious as he rang the door bell. Fishing for his wallet with his other hand.

The door was opened by a small eight year old girl. James' eyes shot up in surprise. James went down onto a knee to bring himself down to the girls height. "Can you please tell your warden that there is a man from Social Services here to see him?"

The girl just stared at him and then at Chris who was still stood behind him. After a few long seconds she just ran off down the hallway and through a side door. James looked back at Chris with not a little bit of confusion. He shrugged to point out that he didn't have a clue.

James walked into the building slowly, taking in everything from the dirt scuffed skirting board to the cracked window of one of the doors off the hallway. He waved Chris in behind him just as a woman came down the stairs at the other end of the hallway. She looked like a very motherly woman. As she came into proper view James got very concerned. The woman was not looking at her best. She had a bandage around her right forearm. A scarf around her neck regardless of the fact that it was mid-summer and lastly a rather bad looking black eye.

"Who are you?" She cried when she eventually saw them and the open door behind them.

"You didn't here the doorbell ring?" James asked bluntly, ignoring her question.

"I'm sorry." She said politely. "How did you get in?"

"One of your children opened the door and ran off down there." James replied pointing towards one of the six door off the hallway. "Are you the warden?"

She paused, trying to assess who he was. "I'm just a helper, the warden isn't in."

"Who else is here?" James asked.

She seemed to realise then that she shouldn't be telling a stranger so much. "Just wait one second, young man." She dropped the basket of clothing she was carrying and James raised his eyebrows at being spoken to so bluntly. "Who are you?"

"My name is James Evans. A Child Psychologist with Social Services. This is my assistant Chris Halliwell." James said handing her his ID to look at. "Now, please answer my question."

She went very pale all of a sudden. "Just me."

"Just you?" James queried. "Correct me if I'm wrong. There are currently thirty children residing here."

She didn't say anything. "So there should be at least three qualified adults here at all times." She nodded. "Yet only you are here."

"Yes." She muttered. James lightened up instantly.

"Ok. Enough of that." James told her. "Where are the children? Surely it is mid day, we should be able to hear thirty children."

"They're in their rooms." She told them. "Mr. Gellam doesn't like them walking around the building when he isn't in."

"Mr. Gellam is the Warden?" James asked, having not had the time to pull the file from records before leaving. She nodded, "What's your name?"

"Mary Coleman." She whispered.

"Does anyone else work here?" Chris asked, joining the conversation.

"No. It's just me and Mr. Gellam." She sighed, before collapsing against the wall.

"Who did that to you?" Chris asked moving to her side as James looked up the stairs in shock. He could've sworn he had just heard something.

"He did." She muttered.

"Mr. Gellam?" Chris asked guessing right as she nodded. James snapped around to face the stairs again as he heard something with his Panther enhanced hearing. "What is it, James?"

"I heard something upstairs. It sounded like someone trying to open a door." James said.

"How can you hear that from here?" Chris asked in confusion. James ignored him as he started up the stairs with Chris on his heels. They ignored the first floor and went straight to the top floor where he could hear someone trying to get through a door.

As soon as they ran into the long corridor two older children threw themselves away from a door just down the hall. They curled up against the wall as if expecting punishment. James ran to them and crouched down gently turning one of their faces to them. The child was a sixteen year old boy. Chris was already with the girl of the same age. Neither seemed hurt in any way, just extremely frightened.

"It's alright you two. My name is James. This is Chris. We work for Social Services." James told the two children. "Why are you trying to get through that door?"

"It's Michael," started the boy but he was interrupted by the girl.

"Alan. Quiet, you know we cant say anything." She whispered viciously.

"Don't worry, we wont let anything happen to you." Chris told the girl.

"Who's Michael?" James asked. "Is he another child here?"

Alan nodded desperately. "Please help him."

James stood in an instant, seeing the frightened look that both children had, and span to the door just as Mary Coleman got to the top of the stairs. "Do you have the key to this door?" He asked the woman.

"Mr. Gellam keeps the keys on him." She said as she shook her head, tears in her eyes as she went to the two older children.

"Chris, help me. On three. 1 - 2 - 3." With that they both kicked the door near the lock. The door buckled and the lock came free sending the door skittering inwards. James rushed in and saw one of the worst sights he had ever seen. A seventeen year old boy, lying on his bed in a mass of bloodied sheets. James ran to his side and, placing his fingers on the boy's throat, felt and received a slow but steady pulse. "Chris, give me your phone. Mary, get all the other children out of their rooms and into one room downstairs."

James grabbed the offered phone and called 911 to get an ambulance and the police. After that was done he called Paige at the office where he knew she would be waiting.

"What's the matter, James?"

"Hey, Paige, you better get other here on the double. I've already notified the police and the ambulance service." James said quickly with the phone pinned between cheek and shoulder as he checked over the boy's body for life threatening cuts and broken bones. "You had better find somewhere for thirty scared children to go to as well."

"What's happening?" Paige asked, James could here scuffing as she was obviously leaving the office.

"I'm kinda busy right now. Just get here like five minutes ago." With that James hung up and went back to checking the boy over.

Five minutes later an ambulance arrived along with a detective and two patrol cars from the police. Paige was there not soon after along with a couple of the assistants, including Kevin who immediately went to check the children off against the rosters held in the records database.

When Paige found James he was talking to the Detective. "Hey, James."

"Paige, good you're here." James introduced her to the Detective before filling her in. "As far as I have managed to discern from the children. The warden has been abusing them on a regular basis. This morning it reached a climax when the oldest child, Michael Rainer, stood up to him to protect one of the younger ones. Gellam, the warden, beat Michael before locking him into his room, ordering the children into theirs. That's how I found them. Gellam is still unaccounted for but the police are looking for him and hopefully will find him before he realises what is happening and goes into hiding."

"Where are the other staff members?" Paige asked.

"The only one here was Mary Coleman, she was beat into keeping quiet. He doesn't have any others that work here." James sighed.

"Though there is another six on the payroll." Paige muttered referring to the file in her hands.

"I think we can add forgery to the list then." The Detective added. "Where are you going to place the children?"

"I don't want them in another Orphanage yet." James told both of them. "It would be better if they had some time away from this environment to recover."

"I thought you might say that." Paige told him, "There is a camp outside the city that we use. It would be perfect for them. They'll need three staff members but only one needs to be qualified since the camp has the people needed. James, I'd like you to go. I'll send Kevin too and anyone else you want."

"Does it need to be a member of staff?" James asked.

"Technically no, but I need to be able to vouch for them." Paige pointed out.

"How about Chris then?" Paige gave him a strange, yet knowing look.

"The two older children will be the hardest to help through this and they already know Chris from earlier." James explained. "Besides, his classes aren't on at the moment and he hasn't got anything to do."

"Ok then." The Detective agreed. "Just make sure I have an address and an contact number for who ever is in charge of the children."

"Ok, James." Paige decided. "I'll give the detective your details and Chris and Kevin's cell numbers. Could you go ask Chris if he's ok to go?"

"Sure." James agreed, and everything was set for James' first holiday of his life.


	7. Setting up Camp

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Just a quick note to anyone that know the San Francisco area. I live just west of London, England and therefore don't really have clue about the west coast of America. Therefore multimap showed this as an isolated lake and therefore it's what I am using.

Chapter 7; Setting up Camp

**San Luis Reservoir**

James glanced back through the length of the yellow school bus over the twenty-nine children ranging from one five year old to the two sixteen year olds that James and Chris had found trying to pick the lock on Michael's room.

He looked back at Chris who was seated beside him just behind the driver of the bus. He hadn't argued with Paige against the impromptu trip even if he'd have to look after so many children unexpectedly. Kevin sat down by the door well on the pull out seat talking to the driver whilst on the other side of the isle sat Alan and Jazz, the two sixteen year olds.

James had his laptop on his lap flipping through the files that Paige had placed on a CD for him for reference. He had spent the last half a day going between reading the files to get to know the children to getting to know either Kevin or Chris, depending on who was sitting next to him. Chris and Kevin both made an effort to get to know Alan and Jazz but James, having set up next to the window, didn't try to talk to them directly but instead kept an ear open to their conversations with the two older men.

James wasn't that knowledgeable when it came to what his feelings were. He had always just ignored them in favour of something else more pressing and he had been feeling very uncomfortable around Chris since he had realised he really couldn't ignore the attraction he felt toward the twenty-one year old he kept running into.

It made him very nervous. Should he just go with the feelings and risk being betrayed again or play it safe? He wasn't even sure if Chris liked him back in the same way. There was also something that bothered him. His instincts screamed at him that Chris was hiding something, that he had always been hiding something.

But then again, so was he. Was that any better?

Over the trip he sorted through the children's files trying to find those that would have been effected the most by whatever had happened in that god forsaken orphanage. Alan and Jazz had automatically gone onto that list. He added nine of the other twelve year olds since they had all been at that orphanage since a young age. The others had either not been at the orphanage long enough to have been severely effected or were too young to have had the warden's attentions. He'd obviously make sure to talk to all of them anyway just in case, but those were the ones who could be permanently scarred for life if they didn't receive enough help now.

One thing he had noticed though with the kids, and pointed out to Kevin and Chris, was that there were no outcasts. In all orphanages there were those that were left out our bullied. But in this group nobody was left alone, they had all bonded together, most likely against the warden. The most obvious evidence of this was Jazz and Alan. They had been quiet most of the journey. James had spoken to them a bit to check details against the records about the other children but never questioned them about their own experiences. Not yet. They were both too bewildered by the sudden change in their lives.

They stopped at a restaurant near the reservoir to eat dinner, all paid for by social services by one of the payment cards that Paige had given both him and Kevin for the two weeks to pay for the expenses. He kept an eye out throughout the meal as to what sort of groups the children split into. The children had been sat at tables of six for the meal, so there were five tables of children. James noticed with a smile that Alan and Jazz had taken in the two youngest children so that the others could talk to their friends.

Luckily at the farm they would have two bunk houses at their disposal, one for the boys and one for the girls. The camp had agreed that putting other children from summer camps with them wouldn't be good for them so they would all have plenty of room.

James, Chris and Kevin sat at a table off to the side of the group so that they could keep an eye out at all times but not intrude. Kevin had also pointed out that since the table was between the children and the only open exit to the room none of them could escape unnoticed.

The three of them, all about the same age, at their dinner with a continuous conversation running and for the first time since making friends with Sam and Jackie he found himself relaxing around someone new. Chris talked all about his family telling James and Kevin all about his brothers and sisters, and his cousins, though Kevin had already met Paige's children and some of the others. It was interesting to James who had never known such a happy family except for the Weasley's who he definitely didn't want to think about any time soon.

It turned out that Chris had not only the older brother Wyatt but also two younger sisters. Prue was 16 and Anna was 14. James already knew from P3 that he had two married aunts. Phoebe had three children, a girl, Patience of 16, and two boys, Felix and Jason, 15 and 13 respectively. Paige had three boys, one of which was adopted and two girls. Joshua was the oldest apart from Chris and Wyatt at 17. Then there was Luke of 15 and the adopted boy Matt, the youngest of the cousins at only 10. The two girls were Pennie, Luke's twin and Ashley at 13.

James was amazed that Chris could remember so many ages let alone all of their birthday but he managed to recite both easy enough. He supposed that that's what happened when there was a full four or more years between Chris and the others.

When Kevin had asked why there was the four years in between him and Joshua and five between Chris and his younger sister. Chris had stumbled upon trying to answer. James put it up to him just not really having thought about it much before but eventually he just told them that it was because his parents had separated for a while hence the gap between him and Prue, and his aunts just hadn't gotten married that early.

James himself was put on the spot by Kevin once the older man was bored of listening about Chris' extensive family and James had found himself having to tell them that his family had been killed and that he hadn't been able to trace anybody else in his family. Kevin had then proceeded to end the uncomfortable spot by endeavouring to embarrass both James and Chris with insinuations as to their sexual preferences. James had just ended up going incredibly red whilst Chris just spat his newly drunk mouthful of lemonade across the table.

Kevin on the other hand had just burst out laughing before saying a quick "Thought as much" before unsuccessfully dodging Chris' playful slap on the arm.

"Looks like you've managed to embarrass him, Kevin." Chris had said joining in with embarrassing James. James had just told them both to shut it before continuing with his meal though highly embarrassed throughout though he was pleased with that fact that Chris hadn't denied being gay, which heartened James immensely.

They spent two hours in the restaurant until they had to get on the move again. James got Kevin to call the camp warden to warn them that they were only ten minutes away. The trip was short and the younger children were almost completely asleep due to their full stomachs and rather eventful day.

When they pulled in front of the administration building it was already starting to get dark. James, who had spent the last ten minutes of the ride in the pull out seat partly to avoid sitting next to Chris after the dinner conversation, got up and turned around to Alan, Jazz, Chris and Kevin.

"Could you see that they are all awake and know where we are, while I go see the director?" James asked whilst avoiding the use of the word warden.

He stepped off the bus after receiving nods from the four and was greeted warmly by an older woman with a smiling expression. "Good evening, I assume you were the psychologist that Paige said to expect." James nodded. "My name is Miranda."

"You are a welcome sight after half a day in a school bus." James laughed, not made uncomfortable by the older woman. "My name is James Evans."

"How about I jump on and show you around to the bunk houses?" Miranda offered, "The two I've put aside are a bit out the way and difficult to find in the dark if you don't know where to look."

"That would be great. I can give you all the forms that Paige sent along." James said as he allowed her on first.

As the bus trundled along in the darkness the children were slowly woken as James pulled out the thirty forms. "We've only got the twenty-nine with us at the moment but hopefully the thirtieth will be along in a few days."

"Yes, Paige mentioned as such." Miranda took the forms. "I'll need yourselves and the two other adults to fill in a form but that can be done once you are settled in. Paige warned me that it would be three male adults and whilst that isn't really a problem she asked me to offer you our resident nurse to stay in the staff bunk in the girls bunkhouse in case they need her."

"That would be great, if you don't mind however I will need to talk to her beforehand." James compromised, not wanting an unknown around twelve possibly distraught girls.

Miranda laughed at his apologetic tone, "Don't worry, she thought you'd say that. She is already moved in and will come and chat with you as soon as you send for her. The larger bunkhouse can be used by the boys since there is an office room you can use and a four bunk room separate to the main room that you three can use."

It was only a short trip and like the warden said, the two huts were indeed isolated. They were on the edge of the lake with trees on the other three sides of the small clearing. The two huts, or more like long houses, sat at angles to the water so that their sides made a triangle with the lake shore making up the third side. On the sandy, twenty foot wide, beach was a circle of study trees cut down to make benches around a well used camp fire. Between the two huts was a small brick hut that was obviously like a kitchen house but wasn't large enough to cater for the whole group, but for things like lunches and drinks. Apart from two large lamppost either side of the road into the compound there were lights strung across the sides of the three huts, casting a dull festive glow over the whole scene.

"Miranda?" James asked, "Could you possibly help Kevin get the girls settled in whilst myself and Chris get the boys in."

"Sure, James." She replied with a smile. "What do you want me to tell Lucy?" She asked referring to the resident nurse.

"She can come and see me straight away if she wants." James returned the smile, "Mind you, tell her it _is _only a chat?"

When the bus pulled to a stop between the two buildings, James stood up to address all of the, now awake, children. "Ok, guys. This is our home for the next two weeks. Once everyone's off I want all the girls to follow Kevin and Miranda here. All the boys follow myself and Chris."

With that he turned and followed Miranda off and then stood to the side as the bus driver started pulling duffel bags off of the coach. James pulled aside his own along with both Chris and Kevin's before the children started to search out their own. Once all of the bags were claimed James raised his voice to get the boys to follow him into the slightly larger hut as Miranda and Kevin led the girls over to the other hut.

As they entered the hut through the side double doors, Chris found the light switch and flipped it on filling the room with light. The first room was lined with bunk beds on both walls. James and Chris moved off to the side to allow the children to find bed.

"How about we go and find our beds?" James asked and then turned to the side as Chris went slightly red in the face. The walked the length of the room to reach a single door with two arrows on it, one pointing left and the other pointing right. The left one had the words 'washroom' written on it whilst the other had 'staff' written on it. He went through and then turned right. There was another door between the two side doors that said exit but both of them ignored that one and walked into the staff quarters. There were two bunk beds in the room along the right wall and the wall they had just walked through. On the left was a door with the word 'Office' inscribed on it.

James dumped his bag on the top of the bunk on the right since he was undoubtedly the smallest of the three men. Chris took the bottom bed on the same bunk and dropped Kevin's stuff, which he had carried in for the social worker, onto the other lower bunk and then with a smile to Chris walked through into the office with his laptop bag whilst Chris offered to grab all of his paper files that were in a small satchel bag. The office was simple, there were two small windows looking out the end of the hut toward the lake with a door between them so that people didn't have to walk through the staff only room.

There were four chairs in the room, one behind a simple desk, the others against the right hand wall. A map of the camp was pinned against the inside wall with a small red dot marking the location of this compound and on the left wall was a sturdy looking, two draw, filing cabinet. James dropped the laptop on the desk and removed the data disk that Paige had given him and walked over to the filing cabinet. He took the files from Chris and put them in the top draw along with the disk so that nobody but the adults could get to them and then closed and locked the cabinet, putting the key into this pocket.

Chris stayed in the staff room to unpack his own belongings whilst James went to check on the children. Alan had set up his few belongings on the bunk on the first bunk closest to where James, Kevin and Chris would be sleeping and the children had all taken the lower bunks along the length of the room with no real pattern to age groups.

"Is everything going ok?" He asked Alan who was busy trying to get a cover over duvet of his bed.

"Yes Sir." Alan replied sheepishly as was the way with all of the children.

"Call me James. I'm only four years older than you after all." James forced a nervous laugh.

"Yes Sir." Alan said with a grin, looking up to meet his eyes. James really did laugh that time drawing the attention of some of the children around him. Just as James was about to continue their impromptu conversation the main doors opened again and a woman in her early thirties walked. She looked around and then noticed him standing at the end of the hall and headed towards him.

"Hi, I'm the resident nurse, Lucy." She interrupted James from speaking by lifting her hand which to James' surprise had Kevin's cell phone in it. "It's your boss. Kevin asked me to bring it over to you."

"Oh right, Thanks." James took it from her before heading back out into the corridor and through to the office with Lucy following him. Lucy stopped to have a chat with Chris but James headed through to the office immediately putting the phone to his ear as he went. "Hiya? Paige?"

There was a scuffle on the other end as someone picked it up and pressed a button, he had obviously been on speaker phone on the other end. "Hi, Is that James?"

James, not recognising the child's voice, just made an affirmative noise as he plugged in his laptop one handed. There was another scuffle as someone look the phone before Paige's voice came through the phone. "Sorry, that was Luke, my second eldest son." She apologised, "I just called to find out how everything is going."

"Everything is fine so far. We arrived about fifteen minutes ago and the children are just unpacking. I'm going to get a campfire going tonight and explain everything to them and let them get to know us properly before they go to bed." James explained.

"Good, I just got a call from one of the nurses at the hospital." Paige explained. "Michael regained consciousness almost straight away. Your first examination was more or less correct. He had minor internal bleeding in his right lower leg and a hairline fracture to his left arm. The rest of his cut and bruises weren't dangerous once they stopped bleeding. They are going to release him tomorrow morning."

"Is he going to be able to get here?" James asked.

"Yeah, I've got the day tomorrow to come over but I cant stay long since I need to get back to look after the children in the evening since Phoebe has a work thing and Piper has an inspection at the club." Paige explained before answering James' question before he had managed to ask it. "Both things are something the husbands want to help with."

"You know Paige there are enough spare bunks here, even for all of the children in your three families." James suggested and then cut her off in turn before she could refuse. "The social services are paying for the buildings as a whole, not per child. It their summer holidays after all."

"You're the psychologist." Paige said. "Will the orphanage children be able to handle ten children?"

"Of course, as long as you warn them not to bring up the orphanage or mention anything along those line whilst they still don't know them." James assured her.

"I'll talk to the others and I'll let you know later on." Paige assured him. "I'll see you tomorrow one way or the other."

"Ok, bye." James closed the phone ending the connection. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned around however as Lucy was standing right behind him. "Sorry about that. Did Miranda tell you about Michael?"

"Yes, she explained everything." She walked forward and James shook the offered hand with a forced smile. The woman reminded him too much of his aunt to be completely sure of himself.

They chatted for ten minutes, discussion everything from Lucy's experiences with children at the camp all the way to these thirty children's needs. At the end of the conversation James took his leave to find the others. Walking into their bunk room James found both Kevin and Chris talking together with Miranda.

"The girls are settled in fine." Miranda told them, "I'm going to head back with your bus driver. You've got my number if you need anything at all."

"Just to warn you, we should be getting Michael here tomorrow and possibly Paige's children too." James told Miranda but directed it for everyone in the room since all the adults were there.

Miranda nodded and left the room to return to the bus whilst James settled down with a sigh on Chris' bunk. "Kevin," James started to organise, "Could you go set up the supplies in the pantry building?"

"I'll help him." Lucy offered knowing the buildings better.

"Since it's still only eight I'm going to get a fire going down on the beach. If you could get some hot chocolate going and then bring it down that would be excellent." James asked before the two left the room and received smiles in return. "I think we owe it to Alan and Jazz to let them know what it up with Michael before we tell everyone. Could you pop over to the girls hut and ask Jazz to come over here, then take the girls down to the beach?"

"Sure thing, James." Chris said with a warm smile making James feel butterflies in his stomach at the look. "I'll make sure they wear whatever warm things they've got."

James followed Chris out of the room but instead of following him out of the smaller exit he went into the main room. He looked around at the seventeen boys and grinned at one of the youngest boys before heading down to the other end where he could see Alan talking to a group of small boys. Alan saw him coming and stood up.

James stopped a few paces away and Alan left the small boys in the hands of one of the fifteen year olds. "What's up?" The boy asked him.

"We're all going down to the campfire for a while for hot chocolate. Can you get all the boys organised and follow the girls down. Chris will be down there. I need to talk to both you and Jazz as soon as she is over here though before we go down." James explained as well as possible. Alan nodded simply. "Have you found the staff room yet?"

"Sure."

"Once Jazz is here just come on in." James finished with a smile before leaving the boys to leave in peace. He made his way back to their room to sort his own belongings out. By the time he had finished setting up his bed there was a double knock on the door. "Come in." He announced loudly.

"You wanted to see us, Sir?" Jazz asked.

"I'm only a few years your elder, so just call me James." He started as he waved them to sit on Kevin's still unmade bed. "I know the last few days have been tough on all of you but I am going to need your help a lot this week. I am here to help you all after what happened but some of the smaller children will need your help more than mine. Know that that door will always been open to anyone that needs to talk. That goes for you and all of the others."

He received nods. "We've got a weeks worth of activities sorted during the day but the evening will be you own to spend together without us around to disturb you. However I will be putting together a schedule of times for all of you to come and talk to me one on one throughout this week. Starting with either of you two tomorrow morning followed by the other." James continued after letting that sink in. "Now for some better news, I know you are both worried about Michael."

They both perked up a lot at this not having heard any news about him since he had been taken to hospital. "I've just received words from my boss that apart from a hairline fracture on his arm he has just cuts and bruises. He'll be arriving early tomorrow afternoon."

They both smiled properly for the first time and James remembered all other again exactly why he had become a child psychologist in the first place. "Now how about you two go and help Kevin and Nurse Lucy in the pantry building getting the hot chocolate down to the beach."

"Thank you James." Alan told him and Jazz nodded.

"For what?" He asked knowing that they weren't talking about the hot chocolate errand.

"For getting us out of that orphanage." Jazz told him after a couple of attempts before they both ran from the room. James smiled before grabbing his light jacket and following them out of the building towards the small campfire which with twenty-seven children to help was already starting to burn merrily.

The children were talking together excitedly when he walked over to Chris. "You don't mind spending the week with your cousins and sisters do you?"

"It's alright," whispered Chris, gaining confidence in the dull light and the heat of the flames behind them, "I can always run away with you." James choked as Chris wink and started to laugh.

With that James turned to the children and laid out to them everything that was planned for the next week. After that they all sat around with their supply of hot chocolate whilst each of the adults, including Lucy, told the children about themselves at James' request and then an hour and a half or beach games in the dark commenced and songs around the camp fire for those that didn't want to join in.

In the end, after James, Chris and Kevin were gained up on by the sixteen over twelve year old and pinned to the sand, James called it a night. All of the children complained but twenty-nine children went to bed that night with smiles on their faces and jokes in their mouths like they hadn't for many years.


	8. A New Life Unravelling

A New Life in San Francisco

**A/N; Important! **I noticed a flaw in the uploading of Chapter 5; Retribution. The end had been cut off and ironically that was vital for explaining Chris' behaviour. If you haven't reread it please do. It finishes with a conversation between Wyatt and Chris but at least a third of the chapter was missing.

Chapter 8; A New Life unravelling.

**San Luis Reservoir**

James was spending his first night at the camp in the office. His laptop constantly scanning through the files that Paige had given to him. He was searching through everything he could on the children so that he didn't have to spend so much time just learning about them. Also if he could learn their names in advance then they were more likely to realise that for once someone was taking a serious interest in them and therefore they would be more likely to open up to him.

He was interrupted at about 3am when a sleepy Chris staggered into the room blinking his eyes at the sudden brightness. James barely glanced up at him.

"It's a tad early to be getting up, Chris." He pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"I was about to say that it's too late to be working." Chris countered before explaining, "I noticed the light on and came to check you were ok."

"I fine," James assured him looking up and realising that Chris was only wearing his underwear and a quickly thrown on t-shirt. He ducked his head back to his laptop to hide his slight blush. "I'm just trying to get a head start."

"You really should sleep, James." Chris told him as he dragged one of the spare chair to the side of the desk and slumped into it less than gracefully. "We've got Michael back tomorrow and you'll need all your energy to help him and then there's all my cousins and siblings and they can be quite the handful at times."

James glanced up at him and smiled gratefully at his concern. "Don't worry about that. I don't need much sleep. I'd rather work tonight so that tomorrow is easier for both me and the children to cope with."

Chris sighed but nodded all the same. "Do you want some help then?"

James smiled at him before shaking his head. "It's not really something you can help with."

"How about a hot drink then?" Chris offered.

"I wouldn't say no to a hot chocolate." James caved.

"Sure thing. Be back in a bit." Chris told him before strolling out of the door back into the bunkroom. A short while later, as James assumed he was getting more clothes on, he heard the inside door and then the corridor exit open and then close.

He grinned happily for a second before opening a new file and starting to read it. Thanking his good memory as he began to memorise all the important bits.

XOXOXOXOX

Chris strolled out of the pantry building less than five minutes after he had left James in his office. He had two cups of chocolate in his hands as he crossed the small courtyard when he noticed a flash of movement from the treeline between the pantry building and the boys hut. He tensed immediately as his mind tore through endless possibilities. It was a tribute to his upbringing that almost all of the things that popped into his head had to do with demons.

He set the mugs down quietly on the outside sill of one of the boy's huts windows before slipping flush up against the corner of the wooden building. There was a crack of a twig then silence as he stared intently into the shadows created by the dense pine trees.

His eyes widened slightly as something moved in the trees at least five metres to the side of the first glimpse and he realised that there was more than just one thing in there. As he waited two more shapes appeared to join the first and then a glimpse of white flashed at about head height but further into the darkness.

Before he could ponder over the white shape six figures stepped out of the trees. It took all of two seconds for the six men to notice him even hidden in shadow like he was.

"Shit!" He muttered before concentrating to call for help. "Please anyone, I've got six demons here. Help!"

He ran from the building knowing that even if he dodged the fireballs that were sure to come they would just end up hitting the hut and possibly getting the boys inside. He dove towards the hut flinging his wrist out towards the demons. His telekinesis kicked in and four of the six human looking demons went flying backwards into several trees. The other two managed to dodge and fireballs formed in their palms before being flung towards him. He dropped to the ground with an oomph as the wind was knocked from him.

A flicker of light appeared from behind the hut where the Demons couldn't see and Chris swung around to face it from his position on the ground. Wyatt stood there smirking at him before he lost sight of his older brother as he rolled into the alcove beneath the pantry hut. As soon as he was in position he sent the last to demons flying backwards across the dirt wishing that he had his brother's ability to blow things up like his mother could. Said brother jumped out of his position and turned one of the demons into a cloud of ash as it exploded.

Chris took the opportunity to run across the gap to his brother just as Paige orbed his mum and his aunt Phoebe next to them.

"One down, five to go." Chris told them as he peaked around the corner just as Wyatt sent another to his death. "Make that four."

"What are they after?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know. It could be me, or any of the children here." Chris muttered. He grabbed his mothers arm and orbed the both of them back to behind the pantry so that she could get a proper aim on them. He glanced around the corner and saw the white flash again. This time though he could see what it was. A black cloaked man with a bone white skull mask over his face. "Who is that?"

"Who?" His mum asked him just as she and Wyatt took out another Demon each. The last two looked at each other before glancing back at the cloaked figure. Piper saw this. "I've never seen anyone like that before."

Before he could respond, the last two Demons blew up into ashes to join their comrades. Piper, followed by the others stepped out of cover to confront the cloaked man still by the trees.

"Who are you?" Piper demanded, her hands held in front of her in a mimic of Wyatt's, whilst Chris and Paige's hands were ready to move if needed. Phoebe waited to the side to get involved if it came to a physical fight whilst she monitored the feelings of hatred coming from the unknown attacker.

The attacker didn't reply. "I'm not here for you. Leave and you wont get hurt." The man said instead.

They didn't move for a while wondering how cocky this man could be to not run and who this man was that he didn't seem to know who the Charmed One's were. Before Piper could ask another question the mans hand came up and they noticed the piece of wood that was held in it.

"**_Crucio!" _**The man intoned and a red beam like a laser shot from it and towards Wyatt who in an instant flashed a shield up to protect himself. The red light struck the shield and spread across it like a spider as it put pressure against in. Chris could see Wyatt struggling to hold his shield up against the onslaught.

The attack as Piper flicked her wrists to blow the man up. He cried out as the attack struck his lower right arm; the arm that held the stick, but it barely did any damage. They couldn't see the mans face but they could tell by his stance, or in Phoebe's case by his feelings, that he was confused and shocked at the attacks.

"Demons!" He spat before aiming at Chris. "**_Avada Kadavra!" _**

A horrible green light spat from the wand as it bucked slightly in his hand and Chris dove sideways as the light struck the pantry hut behind him. It splattered across the wood but other than a slightly burnt patch it didn't do any real damage. Piper and Wyatt both struck out sending the man backwards against a tree with small explosions that only ripped his robes. "Paige! Get him out of here!" Piper yelled at her sister as she attacked.

"**China!" **She called out as she gestured with her hand in a dismissive way.

White orbs formed around the man but they seemed to struggle as he concentrated and then suddenly with a crack the orbs vanished and he flickered as he somehow overcame her magic.

"**_Abscindo!" _**The man said again as he slashed his wand towards Phoebe. The group, expecting another laser were shocked when a cut appeared across Phoebes shoulder, spraying blood across the side of her face. She cried out in pain as she grabbed at it trying to stem the pain. Chris lashed out with his hands as the fury of seeing his aunt in pain increased his magic, sending the man crashing backwards into a tree. They heard a crack and the man cried out in pain before pulling himself to his feet. With a wave of his stick a whip of fire sprung from it, this time without a word.

The dodged as the flames sprung towards them striking Paige in the shoulder because she was slower than the rest to duck. A nasty welt appeared on her upper arm as it burned. "Give up!" The man told them pompously as he lashed out and this time struck Piper in the thigh sending her to the ground. "You pitiful spells are useless against me."

Chris was shocked. It had been a long time since the Charmed Ones had been bested in a fight and right now they were being soundly beaten, even played with by this one man. And this was with himself and Wyatt to help them as well. Piper seemed to see the sense in the mans words but she wasn't about to run from a fight. She lashed out from her kneeling position but instead of aiming for the man she aimed for the stick in his hands since that was where his attacks seemed to originate.

The stick shattered into hundreds of pieces with a small explosion and the man stepped back in shock and looked down at his empty hand in horror as if it was his whole arm that had been turned into sawdust. He growled out before another sharp crack echoed through their ears and they were facing empty space.

"Oh my God!" Phoebe muttered as she sank down next to Piper. "What was that?"

"I have no idea." The eldest of them said as she inspected her thigh. Chris stepped up to her and held his hand over her cut. It was seriously deep, almost down to the bone. He glanced at Wyatt to see that he was tending to Phoebe's whose wound looked almost identical in length and depth just in her shoulder instead of her leg.

"I've never seen someone travel like that." Chris told his mum quietly as the wound closed off and her jeans did the same.

"Why do you think they were here?" Paige asked him.

"I have no idea." Chris sighed as he watched Wyatt finish healing one aunt and moved to help heal the others burn since they couldn't heal themselves. "The Demon acted like they were just hired help. That guy with the skull mask was definitely the leader but I've never seen anything like it in the Book of Shadows."

Piper nodded to show that she agreed. "Could it be one of the children they were after?" She asked Paige.

"Could be." Paige nodded wincing as her nephew prodded her arm in confusion. "I don't know any of them."

"Umm. . .Aunt Paige? I cant heal this. It wont do anything." They all frowned and Chris and Piper got up to walk over to their still injured relation. "Chris, could you help me? I'm a bit tired."

Chris joined his brother in trying to heal the wound but still nothing happened. They gave up after a minute of trying. "It'll probably heal in time like a normal wound. Maybe that is part of the spell he used against us." Piper offered and the others all agreed. Paige prodded her arm and winced. "Don't poke it Paige."

"I'm worried about those spells though. He only needed a single word to cast them." Phoebe pointed out. "I know Latin, Abscindo basically means cut."

"And that spell he used on me was really powerful." Wyatt swallowed as he remembered it. "Another few seconds and he would have broken through."

"The one against me came close enough that I could feel it. It felt like death." Chris told them plainly and at their questioning looks he continued. "That's just what I felt, I cant explain it."

"I could feel those two spells. I don't think they were just made out of magic but out of emotion as well." Phoebe added. "The one that Wyatt blocked was full of anger whilst the one that Chris dodged was filled with hate."

"I hope nobody heard the fight. These children have been through enough." Paige sighed whilst she glanced around.

"Oh shit! The chocolate!" Chris cried as he grabbed for the mugs. The others looked at him like he was mad. "I was bringing James some hot chocolate when I was attacked."

"Hot chocolate? At 3am?" Wyatt raised his eyebrow suggestively.

Chris sent him a withering look. "I woke up and he was still working. Can you heat these for me?" He asked Wyatt who had practiced with his powers enough to be able to heat things instead of just exploding them.

"God. He's going to be asking for a raise soon." Paige smirked. "We'll see you tomorrow. Come on guys, some of us have an early start." She said grabbing Phoebe by the arm and then all four of them disappeared in a swirl of orbs leaving Chris to gather his breath and return to James still working in the office.

"Wow." James smirked at him as he entered the office before continuing sarcastically, "Fifteen minutes for a hot drink. Don't ever let me doubt your culinary skills again."

"I couldn't get the kettle to work." Chris apologised before smoothly setting James' drink next to the laptop. James took a sip.

"Ouch!" He yelped as he choked on it. "That's scalding!"

"Sorry." Chris apologised again forgoing his own drink for a while. James just waved away his apology. "Are you planning on sleeping at all tonight?"

James gave him a look before getting the courage to speak out like he hadn't in ages. "Why? You miss me?" He smirked with a grin.

XOXOXOXOX

James woke Kevin and Chris up at quarter to seven so that they could get into the bathroom before the children were woken at half seven. He trotted across to the other hut and slipped in. It was a laid out in the same sort of pattern as the boys hut except it was slightly shorted since it didn't have an office. He knocked on Lucy's door and heard a fumbling behind it for half a second before the door cracked open.

"Hi, James." Lucy smiled looking like she had been up for hours already since there wasn't a single blond hair out of place.

"Good morning. Could you wake the girls at half seven?" James asked, "We're going to walk to breakfast since it isn't that far."

"Do you want them to wait here once their ready?" Lucy asked knowing that James knew best how to deal with the children since they weren't exactly the same as the normal children she dealt with. Sure she had seen a couple of the summer children come and go who had problems, but never in such numbers and with such a history.

"Open door policy, Lucy." James explained patiently having already discussed the plan with Chris and Kevin before they went to bed the night before. "As long as they are in bed after curfew then they have free reign as long as they don't leave the confines of the camp unless with permission from anyone of us."

"Sure thing, James." Lucy said before her head disappeared again.

James walked back into his bunk room and quickly changed just before Chris walked in. James went bright red at the sight of the well muscled man in nothing but a towel. When he got the courage back to look up it was to see that Chris was just as red as he was. "I'm going to wake up the children." He blurted out before running from the room, passing an amused Kevin on the way.

Kevin watched him slip into the main bunkroom before walking in to see a very embarrassed Chris standing staring at the door. He laughed at the two younger men.

XOXOXOXOX

Paige arrived later that afternoon and James walked up to the gate to meet her leaving the others to supervise the children whilst they played in the reservoir. He had already talked briefly with all of the older children but hadn't discussed the orphanage with any of them apart from Jazz and Alan who had both brought up the topic themselves wanting to know what would happen to all of them.

Paige arrived with her own a Social Service minivan. Paige pulled up next to him whilst the minivan pulled passed to pull up just in front of them. Paige got out followed by Piper and left the three children, who James guessed were some of Paige's, in the back. James smiled at them before turning to Paige.

"Hi, James." She greeted him, "How are things going?"

"Well, you know how these things are, Paige." James replied, "It takes time, but they have a very strong bond with each other, not a single loner in the group."

"That's good to hear." Paige agreed, "Oh, sorry, this is Joshua, Ashley and Matt. My eldest and two youngest."

"It's nice to meet you all." He smiled at the children having an easier time around children than he did with unknown adults. "Where's Michael?"

"He's with the others in the minivan." Paige explained.

"Can he walk?" James asked

"He can, but only for short distances." Paige explained. "Piper, do you mind going in the minivan so James can show me the way?" Piper quickly agreed clearing some rubbish out of the seat and only Joshua's lap in the back, who cried out in annoyance, before she headed for the minivan. James hoped in and they were on their way.

The reunion between Michael and the other orphanage children was heartrending for the others. Alan and Jazz were both in tears and even through that they only just managed to prevent the younger children from piling up on him and making his injuries worse. James felt tears welling in his eyes from where he lurked at the side of the compound watching the scene as it took him back to his own friends betrayal. The only ones that had believed him were Charlie and Bill Weasley and possibly the twins as well as Remus and Hermione but Remus had died from the loss.

He looked at the close ties between the thirty children and then across to the family that had now joined the celebrations as the children took to the water. James couldn't take it any longer, he fled.

Harry walked into the office as he stubbornly refused to allow his tears to fall. He settled down behind his desk and opened a bottle of coke that he had brought with him to give him something to do whilst he got his emotions in order.

XOXOXOXOX

Outside in the compound Paige and Piper chatted to each other as they waited with Chris, Kevin and the camp's nurse, Lucy, whilst they watched the children play in the water of the reservoir or crowd around Michael. Joshua also hung around with them since he was a Firestarter and they were famous for their dislike of large masses of water. It was he who noticed something first, he had been watching as Pennie, his own younger sister, and Anna, his Aunt Piper's youngest as they played together in the water and he was the first to see as they both tensed up.

"Mum," He grabbed at his mother's sleeve interrupting her conversation, Paige glanced around at him, having to lift her head slightly since Joshua at 17 was already taller than her. "Pennie and Anna have tensed up." He pointed at the two whilst keeping an eye on the two mortals near them.

Paige, Chris and Piper spun to look at them. Pennie and Anna both took after their aunt when it came to sensing emotions. They weren't as practiced at it but they were still good enough at it to know what they were feeling.

They both came running up to them and Paige and Chris took them aside whilst Piper enlisted Joshua's help in distracting the mortals so that they didn't over hear. "What's the matter girls?"

"We can feel a really bad emotion." Pennie told her mother as Anna left her slightly older cousin do all the speaking.

"Bad? Do you mean fear or hate?" Paige questioned them worried over the fact that maybe last nights attacker had returned.

They both shook the heads slowly. "More like sad." Pennie explained.

Paige sighed slowly, "You're going to have to get used to that feeling around this group. They've been through a lot and they are all unhappy."

This time it was Anna that spoke up. "It's not them, I mean, they are sad but there is relief with them as well." She explained. "This one is worse, it echoes over the others like a huge cloud of sadness."

"And betrayal." Pennie added in helpfully before shuddering slightly before continuing apologetically, "But we cant pinpoint the location."

Paige thought for a second looking around at everyone there before turning back to the two girls. "Just be on the look out."

"Sure, Auntie Paige." Anna nodded, "We'll let you know if something happens."

The two ran off to play some more in the water and Paige looked up a Chris with a questioning look. "I don't think it's the attacker." She started quietly, "Phoebe said that she just felt anger and hate, nothing about betrayal or sorrow."

"I agree." Chris shut his eyes briefly trying to think over the last few days. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he looked at his Aunt in horror. One name escaped his lips in a whisper. "James."

"We don't know that." Paige countered more hopefully than anything else.

"You told us that you had gotten that vibe from him like he had had a bad childhood." Chris argued whilst looking over the compound looking for the young Child Psychologist. "And he admitted to me and Kevin yesterday that his family had been killed and he hadn't anyone else."

Paige looked at him sharply, probing her nephew. "How did you get that out of him?" She demanded.

"We didn't force it out. We were just talking and it just came up." Chris tried to placate her. "I wouldn't do that to him." He promised and she gave him a sharp look for a second before she spoke.

"We still don't know it's him." Paige pointed out.

"But he isn't here." Chris gestured around them expansively to prove his point. "That's why Anna and Pennie couldn't pinpoint the emotion."

"Betrayal though?" Paige thought out loud, "How could he have been betrayed?"

"Maybe by his friends, he never talks about them or anything." Chris suggested.

"Even so, he is an adult, not to mention one of my specialists." Paige said sternly. "It isn't our place and we shouldn't stick our noses in where they don't belong."

"You cant say that we're not all drawn to him." Chris commented, Paige gave him a knowing look. "You know what I mean, Aunt Paige, like he's an innocent we're supposed to help."

"We don't get mortals as innocents." Paige pointed out but it was obvious that she was still thinking of it as a possibility. "What if he isn't mortal then?"

Both looked up quickly and toward the boys hut and the man now walking out of the office door. James looked rather pale but apart from that he was looking every part the leader of the camp as he glanced around everyone there to check nobody had run off. He spotted Paige and Chris looking at him and nodded at them before turning to head towards where Piper, Joshua, Kevin and Lucy were still chatting not far from them.

"What if he isn't, what are you going to do?" Chris said, not quite managing to keep a slight bit of protectiveness out of his voice. Paige used to dealing with people in these situations noticed it all the same.

"You should know better than that, Chris." She told him reassuringly. "If he isn't mortal then we'll deal with that later. And we can find out for sure right now."

Before Chris could say anything Paige yelled out for her youngest, and adopted, son. Matthew came running out of the water towards them. "What's up, mum?"

Paige and Chris crouched down in front of the shorter than normal ten year old and lowered their voices. "I need you to check something for me." Paige explained.

Chris took over. "Do you see that man over there?" Matthew looked over he shoulder at James who Chris was pointing at and he nodded. "What can you sense off of him?"

Matt looked around again and frowned as he concentrated, trying to block out everything from his surroundings. This went on for almost half an minute before he looked back around and looked surprised at his findings. "Nothing."

Chris frowned as well having been sure that the Panther and James were at least related in some way. Paige looked confused before glancing at James and then back to her son. "Nothing, don't you normally sense at least something?" She asked, "Even from mortals?"

"Yeah, mum." Matthew nodded before looking back around at James. This time after a few seconds James turned and looked straight at Matthew and Paige and Chris were sure that for a second he had had a surprised look on his face.

XOXOXOXOX

Once James had eventually calmed himself down he left the office and walked out into the open air again hearing the sudden blast of noise coming from the forty children playing around him. He glanced around the area to check everyone was where they should be. He noticed with satisfaction that Michael seemed to be happily relaxing with three or four of the other children including Jazz and Alan. He looked into the water to see some of Paige's family playing with some of the younger children from the orphanage.

He noticed that two of them were staring at him quite intently but brushed it off as them just being intrigued as to who he was. He felt eyes on him and turned to see Chris and his boss watching him he nodded at them before looking at the slightly larger group consisting of Kevin, Lucy, Piper and the older boy that James remembered from the car as Joshua.

He head for them and spoke to them for a few minutes. It was during Piper's questioning of how his job was going when he felt something tugging at the corner of his mind. He ignored it for a while and after a short time it faded. Shrugging it off as a latent memory of his past he continued his conversation with Piper asking her about how the club was doing.

Not a minute later that presence was back, he frowned and realised with a jolt of what it reminded him of. Legillimency. The art of intruding into a victims mind. He frowned slightly whilst automatically agreeing to come visit P3 in the near future and concentrating on throwing up a wall to block the intrusion. He felt a brief sense of shock from the presence before it was hurtled away from him. He traced it and turned his head to see who had been watching him and was surprised to see that it was a tiny waif of a boy standing before a crouched Chris and Paige.

He wiped the look of surprise off of his face in an instant as he saw all three of them watching him and turned back to break off his conversation with the four in front of him excusing himself by claiming to need to talk to Paige about work business. He walked towards the three or in fact two since the small boy had run back to play with his family in the water again.

"Hi Paige," he greeted cheerfully as he cast a quick glance across the assembly of playful children to cover his awkwardness.

"Hello, James." Paige nodded at him, "How are they all settling in?"

"Oh, they are doing fine." James waved a hand to show that there hadn't been any problems. "It'll be a shame when we have to split them up between orphanages after this week."

Paige nodded in agreement. "I don't see an alternative though, they still haven't found the Warden yet, someone got word to him that the police were in the orphanage and he took off so we cant send them all back there even if we had somebody capable of running the place."

James smiled warmly at a nervous looking Chris assuming that the nervousness was to do with the business talk. "Was that you adopted son that Chris told me about?" He asked turning back to talk to Paige again.

"Yeah, that's Matt." Paige glanced at the aforementioned son before continuing, "I adopted him after his parents beat him into hospital and then disappeared."

James flinched before Chris pointed out that it was almost six years ago now so he was just as much a member of the family as anyone. "He seems to be a very upbeat boy." James smiled but couldn't shake the feeling off but looking at the ten year old he started to doubt his own thoughts. A ten year old couldn't possibly by-pass his Azkaban built natural shields. He banished the whole matter into the back of his mind before discussing what to do with the children that evening.

XOXOXOXOX

That evening they all went to a play put on by one of the summer camps and although without exception all of his group were wary with the other children, James was proud to see them trying to overcome their phobia of people they didn't know. They sat around the fire again until it got dark and then split off to sleep again. Michael used the offered bed that Alan had saved for him near to the door to the corridor whilst the Halliwell and Mitchell children took beds together separate from the other children but not with a large gap since they had made friends with a lot of them without really trying.

That evening saw James sitting by the dying fire long after the rest of the adults had gone to bed. He was pondering over the day, things that he had seen but had been explained away by one plausible reason after another. Fire marks that were from vandals in the night that Chris had scared off when he crossed the court to get drinks last night, A nasty burn on Paige's shoulder that she had gotten when he cooker had exploded a few days passed but that James hadn't seen at the orphanage the day before.

That was without mentioning the odd looks he had been receiving from all of Chris' siblings and cousins, especially the two girls, Anna and Pennie who never seemed to want to be near him. And then there was Joshua who seemed to stare at him for minutes on end.

He was because he was looking over his shields that he had been forced to build in Azkaban that he was snuck up on whilst his focus was inside rather than out. His first hint that something was wrong was when he felt magic crackling through the air feeling like a lightning storm about to break. He recognised the wards from his charms lessons in his six year at Hogwarts. Anti-apparition and anti-Animagus. He was rolling forwards even as he realised that those wards meant only one thing, an ambush.

A red spell shot over his head just missing his hair but before he could dodge again he heard a voice from behind him and to the right. He spun to face the opponent but the Cruciatus curse had already hit him. He fell to his knees but he managed to keep his voice from screaming out. He regretted not having his wand that would let him fight against these Witches and Wizards, whoever they were. The few things that he could do with his magic were useless against armed magic users. His whole arsenal consisted of energy balls made of his magic but he had been lucky to even start a cave in with it. He hadn't wanted to be able to do more afraid that it would lead the others to him and because he wanted to leave that life behind him forever.

He didn't know how long they kept him under the curse but in the end he felt it lift and he forced himself onto his knees glaring at the man he recognised as being the one and only Lucius Malfoy. He spat at him before a stunning spell smacked him in the back of the head with enough forced to throw him into the sand.

XOXOXOXOX

**A few minutes before**

"_Chris! Wake up. Something's out there!"_

Chris bolted awake as a loud voice screeched in his head. He looked around even as it yelled out again. "_Yes, I heard you the first time, Matt. Wake up Joshua, Patience and Prue and get them to wait for me." _He thought back sensing Matt's distress at whatever he could sense. "_Call my mum and the others too if you can and tell them what's happening."_

By the time he had finished he was up and he had already thrown on a shirt and trousers. He could see movement out by the camp fire and stood the check on James and Kevin. "Shit!" He cursed quietly as he realised that once again James' bed was untouched. When he left the room to make for the exit in the corridor he was met by a sleepy looking Joshua and Matt. "Matt, go back to bed, and wake the others so they can keep an eye on the others."

"I just wanted to warn you that they feel really powerful." Matt started to sob, "I've never felt anyone like that."

Chris gave him a quick hug before sending him back in with the others. Him and Joshua slipped out of the exit and crept along the back of the hut to meet with the two girls. Patience, Phoebe and Coup's eldest, spoke first. "Anna and Pennie can feel a lot of pain. What ever is out there, it's hurting someone."

"Damn. James is missing too." Chris told them realising who must be the one in pain. He went to walk around the pantry building by Joshua's hand on his arm stopped him.

"If that thing out there is the same thing that attacked you yesterday then we need to wait from mum and the others to get here." The younger boy told him bluntly. Chris yanked his arm out of grip before cursing again quietly.

It felt like an eternity before his their mothers appeared with Wyatt in tow. They had obviously been running. "Our orbing was blocked by something, we appeared almost a quarter of a mile away." Wyatt explained hastily as Chris sent them an annoyed look.

"We think it's the same thing that attacked us before and James is missing." He said looking directly at his Aunt Paige.

"Let's go." Piper announce as they walked around the corner and unknowingly straight through the edge of a magical ward. They all shivered and ran quietly across the camp to the beach and up behind three cloaked figures like the night before. The man who had attacked them seemed to have brought reinforcements this time. They were just in time to see a red light strike the back of James' head and his kneeling form fell to the ground evidently unconscious. "Hey!" Piper shouted as she and Wyatt blasted the nearest man with duel explosions. Chris just growled and sent all three of the distracted figures flying forwards across the campfire. One landed in the outskirts of the dying fire and shrieked in pain.

Joshua saw the opportunity and turned the once dying fire into a furious blaze that half consumed one of the figures forms. They felt another shiver as whatever magic was in the area fell with a faint tinkling sound.

With the addition of Joshua's fire abilities, Patience's disillusionment for distractions, and Prue's levitation and weaker telekinesis they were able to create enough confusion that they enemy was forced to disappear rather than face the eight of them.

Chris ran to James' side and shook him with desperation, calling for him to wake up all the time but he didn't.

The others watched as James didn't wake and Wyatt knelt on the other side and the two tried to heal whatever damage there was. The white glow surrounded their hands as they focused and they were all taken by surprise when as soon as the glow spread and touched James' body a blast rippled through the air throwing Wyatt and Chris straight backwards against the sand and making the six others stagger.

Wyatt groaned along with Chris as they struggled up. "He'll be fine as far as I can tell." He told the others as he struggled to his feet.

"What happened?" Piper asked her two sons concerned for them.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with what Matt sensed earlier." Chris suggested but they were interrupted as a light flickered on in the girls hut. Lucy's room. "The rest of you get home. I'll call you later when he wakes up."

"When he wakes up just tell him that you found him out here unconscious and could wake him." Piper told him sternly before she disappeared along with the others in a flurry of orbs. Wyatt took the other children to return them to their beds just as Lucy stepped out of the girls hut and Chris waved at her frantically hoping that she would be able to do something since he obviously couldn't.

The question spinning around in his mind was whether those powerful wizards wanted James or whether James had just got in their way like Chris had the night before. It still span through his mind as he settled beside James in their bunkroom with Kevin on the other side and Lucy checking him over for injuries and then on into the morning as Kevin and Chris took it in turns to watch over their mutual new friend.


	9. Into the next World

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; I'm looking for beta's for this story and my others. I am going to scan over the current chapters in a while to correct oversights but i need somebody for each of my stories that can be sent work by email, check it through and send it back at a fast rate. I dont write to a schedule and i need someone that will be able to keep in contact when it comes to the beta-ing. Any beta though must accept that i am British and therefore use different words or phrases for some things. Please PM if you are interested.

Chapter 9; Into the next World.

**San Luis Reservoir**

**The next morning**

James cracked his eyes open and found himself staring straight into the sleeping face of Chris. He frowned as he tried to recall the previous evening. He remembered sitting staring into the dying campfire after everyone had gone to bed and then someone attacking him but the images were still blurry, especially through his headache.

He felt like he'd been under the Cruciatus spell. He bolted up with a jolt as he realised that that was exactly what _had _happened. He'd been ambushed by Death Eaters in the middle or a camp full of muggles and placed under the Cruciatus Curse by Lucius Malfoy himself.

How had they found him after all of these years? Thinking this only made the memories of his old world more clear to him. His betrayal by all but a few die hard friends that weren't even those closest to him. Remus's death and then his escape from Azkaban and his flight to freedom. Now it was unravelling in only one night.

He looked around the room and saw Kevin curled up in his bed against the other wall and Chris, still sleeping, in a chair pulled up under the window beside his headboard. He scratched at his head to try to dull the lingering headache and wondered how he had come to be lying in his own bunk when the last thing he could remember was being tortured and then the distinctive red flash of the Stupefy spell.

"You were lucky, James." A voice echoed through the room and he snapped his head around to find the voice familiar as it was even though he couldn't quite place it.

"Who are you?" He whispered into the room, checking that Chris and Kevin were still asleep. "Where are you?"

There was a quiet chuckle before white balls of light collected in the middle of the room before spreading out into the form of a person and then solidifying into a woman cloaked completely in a white cloak. A strange golden glow protected her face from his gaze so that he couldn't see her. "You have questions." She stated simply. "I am here to answer them and to give you advice."

It snapped together in his mind suddenly. He _had_ heard this voice before, almost four years ago in the small prison cell on Azkaban. "You!" He whispered fiercely at her. "You spoke to me in Azkaban."

"Yes, that was me." She sighed. "I could not help you escape then no matter how much I had wanted to. You had to find your own way to your powers."

"I already had magic then." James frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"You hadn't tapped into your true potential back then. Now you have." She told him, "But it must be trained if you are to do what is fated to you."

"I don't care about some prophecy that everyone expects me to fill!" James snapped at her viciously as thoughts of all those that cast him out flickered through his mind.

"What about the friends that stuck by you?" She countered. "What about the new friends you have made?"

James stumbled over his answer as he glanced at Chris and he slumped slightly. "Why me?"

"One day, James, you _will_ be truly happy." She told him and her smile was evident in her tone.

"Who are you?" He repeated as he tried to gaze through her glowing veil.

"You are not ready to know my identity yet. You are still too untrusting of those that know of your true identity." She told him with a sigh before continuing. "I am a Whitelighter, I protect witches in this World."

"If you protect witches why are you helping me?" James asked with a slightly raised eyebrow though he winced as the movement caused him pain.

"In this World you are a witch, all those that have magic are witches." She said simply as she stepped up beside him. She held out her palm an inch from his forehead and James' eyes widened slightly as her hand glowed gold and he felt his remaining headache disappear. "How they could come up with such a horrible curse is beyond me!" She muttered to herself.

"They?" James queried.

"Let me tell you a story, James." She spoke and didn't pause for his consent. "Over five thousand years ago there was only one type of human magic users, they were known as witches. They were the sworn enemies of the demonic forces that plague this Earth. We're not sure of the exact year but these Witches were hit by a disease which specifically targeted their magical cores and crippled them. Some of them, the more powerful were immune but most were effected and lost the magic apart from a small amount to small to tap. Over the years they lived peacefully but eventually they created a device that allowed them to tap into their magic again and that from the environment around them so that they could cast spells again."

She paused to collect her thoughts, "They turned against the Witches that were immune to the disease and after several decades of war they managed to push them to the brink of extinction due to the vast array of spells that could be cast so much faster through their wands. The Witches fled into hiding and eventually came west and settled here in America in the last few hundred years."

"So these wand using Witches were my ancestors?" James asked.

"Yes," was her reply. "You now live in the middle of the World where the descendents of those that fled reside. You have found yourself not only running from your old war but living in another that was until this summer completely separated from your old one."

"What do you mean?" James asked not liking where this was going.

"Your old enemy, Tom Riddle, has rediscovered the untapped powers of the Demonic World and has made alliances with them." She sighed again. "I was not able to hide you from this man since his magic is so unknown to me though with your help I may be able to in future."

James looked at her feeling nothing that would suggest she was lying. "So let me get this straight, you are my Whitelighter who protects me from harm. But Voldermort now knows where I am and has allied with the Demonic World which I only found out about now?"

She nodded, "You are a first among your kind, James. You magic isn't the same as their even though you were born to them. It isn't crippled like their. You have what we call the Power of Suggestion. You can will something to happen and it will. You also have the gift of Premonition. The ability to see glances into the future though you will not be able to control when it occurs."

James slumped backwards against the headboard with a thump and looked at Chris quickly to check he hadn't woken him. "Don't worry, they will not awaken until I leave." She told him seeing his worry. He glanced at the clock and realised that it was already seven and soon the children would start to wake. She seemed to sense his agitation and she continued. "You must hone you skills like you did in Azkaban. Will something to happen and feel your magic as it does it. Only that way can you make progress."

"What about Premonition?" James asked. "I've only ever had vague dreams."

"You're hiding your magic close in to your core. You must allow your magic to explore, to feel the world around you. It will guide you." She told him. "Beware though, there are Demons who would love to control powers like yours. There are those here also that will help you should you show them your true self."

James' head snapped up to her again. "Who?"

"They are called the Charmed Ones. Or at least the three are. They are now a quite formidable family." She told him, her smile once again evident in her voice. "The Charmed Ones have been fighting Demons for over twenty-five years, they can help you if you let them but first you must learn to trust people with your abilities once again."

"How will I know who they are?" James asked with a frown.

"You magic will guide you to them eventually just like it did on Alcatraz island."

"You mean they were the ones that blew up that Dementor?" James asked in shock.

"They are powerful, but they will not betray you. Like I said though, make sure you can trust again before opening yourself to them, but be warned you are running out of time."

"What do you mean?" James asked. After everything she had said he wasn't surprised that he was running short of time but the way she had said that last bit made him worry more.

"You have more enemies at the moment than just Voldermort and Demons." She told him sadly.

"Dumbledore and the Ministry?" He gasped out in question. She nodded slowly. "How did they find me?"

"They haven't yet but they soon will. Already Jackie's cousin has told her family of the Dementors in Azkaban and they have sent Aurors to investigate. They will soon find your trail in the rubble and trace it to you." She told him.

"I thought we could hide me from them?"

"Hopefully we can but that is not the only loose connection. Jackie's cousin will return to school and somebody there will inevitably see her memory of you and recognise you even if she didn't."

"Oh god. Snape and Dumbledore." James gasped. "I'll have the Aurors and the Order after me in an instant! How do I hide myself?"

"This will only hide you for the time being, it isn't infallible, only the Charmed Ones will be able to hide you when they come." She told him before waiting for his nod before continuing. "Close you eyes and feel for your magic. Bring it up into your hands like when you cast that energy ball but instead just let it flow into the air."

He did as she said with practiced ease and gasped as he felt her mix her own magic with his and then turn it back on himself. He felt a dull burning feeling as it filled his body but then it was gone. "I've used your own magic and my own abilities to block any tracking spells whether from your old world or this one."

"Thank you for your help." James told her. "Will I see you again?"

"If you ever need my help just call for help. Until then be careful, they already know where you are and whilst they wont be able to search for you with tracking spells you are not hard to find with this many children about."

Before James could say anything else she burst into a cloud of glowing lights again and vanished into the ceiling. He stared at that space for a time before he heard an intake of breath from behind him that told him that Chris was waking up just like his Whitelighter had said.

"James!" Chris blurted out as soon as he saw that he was sitting up. "You're supposed to be resting!"

"Why?" James asked with a frown, "I feel fine."

"Lucy said you had a serious concussion." Chris told him. "Can you remember anything?"

James used the excuse of watching Kevin awake and get out of bed to think about what to say. Eventually he started. "I remember sitting by the fire thinking and then somebody hitting me from behind. I don't remember much after that but blurs, there were a few of them and they looked human but their faces were white and looked like skulls."

"What did they do?" Kevin asked as he ducked to sit on James' bunk.

"They made me feel pain, lots of it. But I don't remember how or what happened after that." James said tiredly. He knew more than that but he couldn't say anymore without giving himself away and until he had a better grasp on his magic he couldn't risk anyone knowing about him until he found these 'Charmed Ones' and there family.

"We heard noises outside and came to see what was happening. We scared off the attackers but you were already unconscious. We stayed up with you most of the night." James nodded at both with gratitude and a smile.

"We should be getting the children up soon shouldn't we?" James asked Kevin who nodded in return.

"There is no _we_ in it. Me and Kevin will sort out the activities for today. You are staying either right here in bed or in your office." Chris told him sternly. "You have no say in the matter." Chris cut him off as James tried to protest.

Kevin joined the argument. "I've already called Paige to tell her what happened and she agrees. I'm in charge till Lucy feels your well enough to work properly."

"What about the sessions?" James countered even as he consented to Kevin being in charge till he was properly up on his feet. Even now he could still feel lingering pain in his chest from where the Cruciatus had struck him.

"Lucy doesn't see how that would be a problem. As long as you don't do anything too active you'll be fine." Kevin told him with a smile. "But you wont have one for another two hours so you stay here and we'll bring you something back from the canteen."

James nodded and watched them leave to shower. He lay back down with a sigh waiting for them to return.

It wasn't long before the children were all up and dressed and Kevin and Chris were walking them to breakfast in the camp's main canteen. Lucy came to visit him before heading off herself to eat with the other members of the camp staff and she gave him the lecture on sticking to her rules.

Once she was gone James struggled up and hissed in pain as the lingering effect of the Cruciatus flared up his other injuries. Even with all his trips to the hospital he had never been injured this many times in such a short period. He'd been stabbed by a shard of glass and been forced into a sling for two weeks, then been grazed in the side by shotgun pellets which left pale scars along his right side. And now the torture had flared up the pain again.

He grasped at his chest slightly as both side flared in pain but put up with it all the way through his shower and through changing which was easier said than done. He set up the laptop and broke one of the Sprite cans out of the filing cabinet full of drinks for the children during their sessions.

He switched on the laptop but made himself think before he actually began writing up reports on it. Why not use this time to practice his magic like his Whitelighter had suggested?

He pushed the laptop across the table leaving the list of children and the status of their reports on the screen before shutting his eyes and searching for his magical core just like she had told him. Just like he had in Azkaban when he had first discovered his ability to cast magic without a wand. He found the burning ball of bright white light in an instant. It wasn't really a ball but more of a mass that flowed through him randomly reaching out in all directions at random.

He opened his eyes and glanced around the room, and seeing no change in the items around him like he had expected he got up and wandered over to the wall mounted mirror above the log stove. There was no obvious sign that his power was flowing outside of his body but the look of his eyes caught his attention. They seemed to gleam with a hidden power, looking closer he could almost see floating stars in his pupils.

He blinked and shook his head to dispel the image and then spun to look at the room looking for something to practice. He noticed the chair in front of the desk that had a slight crack running down the curved wooden pole that made up part of the backrest and stared at it intently willing his magic to fix it.

His magic surged up to his skin but then receded as like water through a sieve. Perhaps he had to be more specific, at least for his practice. He reached out again and forced his magic to soak into the wood rather than just fix it. He willed the strands of wood to weave back together, to make it whole again. He visualised the wood splicing itself back together and was shocked when it actually did it. The wood flowed back together and sealed itself leaving only a lack of varnish as a sign that it had ever been cracked in the first place.

A flickering on the table made him snap his head up and he frowned at his laptop screen as the image seemed to bend and flicker like it was about to crash. He pulled his magic back out of the chair in a hurry and relaxed when the image stabilised. He went to move closer to back up the work but retreated quickly when the screen began to flicker violently and the fan in the base started to slow down. He released his grip on his magic and felt it sink back into his core. The laptop returned to its normal behaviour and James was glad.

He stepped up to it and, satisfied that he wouldn't break it, saved the updated reports from the night before onto the removable hard drive that Paige had given him and swiftly removed it and put it in the bottom draw of the filing cabinet along with the paper copies of some of the children's records.

He walked up to the laptop again and ran his hands over the keys. Nothing changed. He pulled up his magic and the screen flickered immediately. It settled as he drew his hand away from it and started again as he got closer. He frowned at it before looking at a chocolate wrapper sitting innocently on the desk. He drew up his magic and pushed it towards the wrapper and watched as the screen started to wildly flicker like it was under some sort of interference. It didn't die though.

For the final part of his test he concentrated on the wrapper and willed it to burn. Almost instantly the edges caught fire and after only a second it flared up and burnt into a small pile of ashes on his desk. The laptop crashed completely, the fans stopped as the screen went blank. It had completely shut down.

Obviously this is why technology didn't work around Hogwarts, the concentration of magic shut anything electrical down. As long as his magic wasn't being focused on a task the laptop would do fine but as soon as he set it to do anything, any technology in the area would go haywire.

Harry switched the laptop back on and waited patiently for it to start back up. It scanned itself as it started to check for damage and after a couple of minutes started up fully, finding no fault. At least the malfunctions weren't permanent. He switched it off again before walking to the cabinet to retrieve the hard drive. He placed it and the laptop safely in the bunk room so that he could practice without worrying about wiping anything accidentally.

He knew that he had about three-quarters of an hour before he had to worry about anyone returning from breakfast so he concentrating on his magic and willed it to do simple tasks around him, mending a scratch on the table top, making his half drunk sprite chilled and other things like lighting a candle that was on one of the shelves. James didn't fool himself into thinking that things like this were easy and they probably would have been harder to learn if he hadn't already been able to do these things with his wand.

He decided to try to do something more unique. He closed his eyes and reached out to feel for any sign of life around him. He was shocked when he suddenly found the hazy image of a tree in the forefront of his mind. It seemed to ooze a white glow that spread through it like veins, feeding each and every part of the tree from its roots to the highest leaf.

He let the image go and felt himself slowly withdraw to his own mind. He concentrated again and willed his magic to seek out the nearest human life. Not a second later he saw another hazy image of a man, taller than himself walking straight at him. He widened his scope to see if he was alone and five smaller people appeared around him following him and walking beside him. They seemed to be walking somewhere but he couldn't see the surroundings at all.

He watched as the children stopped walking and huddled around themselves as the taller person stepped up onto something and gestured as if he was opening a door.

"James?" The voice startled his eyes open and for a second the image in his mind was superimposed over that of Kevin standing in the outside doorway into the office. James released his magic and felt it settle down again, not as far as his core but at a comfortable level, like it should have been all along had it not been for Azkaban. "I've got the first group here for you."

James shook his head to disperse a slight rising dizziness. It had been Kevin that he had seen walking with the children on their way to the office. Had he really been lost in his own mind for so long. He glanced at the clock and realised that he had been 'meditating' for the last half an hour rather than the ten minutes he had guessed. "Thanks, Kevin." He told the waiting older man. "What are you and the others going to do?"

"We doing the woods games that you suggested. Once you've finished with these five send them out and we'll bring the next group." Kevin told him before frowning as he set a small bag on the table that James hadn't noticed he'd even been carrying since it hadn't given off any sign of life. "You look really tired, are you sure you're up to this?"

"I'll be fine." Seeing the sceptical look he decided to hand Kevin a bone, knowing that he was only concerned for James. "Whatever they did to me has made the pain from that stab wound flare up."

Kevin winced and made to start worrying over him.

"I'll be fine, if it gets any worse during this session I'll ask Lucy to have a look at it, but I don't think it's anything to worry about." James assured him. "Is that Michael, Alan and Jazz out there?"

"Yeah, plus Anna and Richard, the two oldest fifteen year old. You said that they might need extra work." Kevin told him.

"Yeah, those two probably have the worse background since they were abused before placed in state care. I hate to say it but these five are probably the only ones that will need further psychological help." James sighed.

"I don't know, you're the expert but to me they seem to be coming along as well as can be expected." Kevin offered. "Maybe they'll be able to forget and leave it behind them."

"As much as I wish that were true, some things can never be forgotten, Kevin." James sighed but didn't notice that he had unknowingly hinted at his own past to his friend.

"Maybe you just have to learn to live with the memories and live for the future not the past." Kevin whispered before leaving the office. It wasn't until Michael stepped slowly through the door with his crutch and Alan's help that he realised that Kevin hadn't been talking about the children but directly to James.

"Make yourselves comfortable, you know where the drinks are if you want one but hands off the chocolate. I don't quite trust you with that stash yet." He grinned at the small group as they grabbed chairs and grinned at him wishing him good morning as they settled in. "I'll be right back."

He disappeared into the bunkroom and grabbed the laptop and hard drive in one hand. As a last thought he grabbed his own pillow and one of Kevin's just before walking back into the office. He flopped one of them onto his own chair behind the desk before chucking the other at Alan.

Alan didn't need to be told what it was for as he placed it between Michaels back and the chair to ease the pain in the older boy's ribs. James sat himself in his own chair facing the small semicircle of teenagers and made sure that the pillow softened the hard back of his own chair where they met his now aching ribs.

"Are you ok, sir? Michael asked with a touch of concern. "Everyone's been talking about you being attacked last night."

"Everyone?" James enquired.

"Well, the Halliwell's told us that you got brought in last night after being attacked at the campfire and we all noticed you weren't with us at breakfast this morning." Alan joined in.

James looked at them and didn't see any reason to not tell them the truth, or at least the version he could tell them. "I was attacked last night but the other adults scared them off." He held up a hand to still the questions. "I'll be fine, it just flared up an old injury."

A deeply worried look past over the whole group. "What's the matter?" James asked them after a moment to set up his laptop and switch it on.

"What if it's _him_?" Jazz whispered as if saying his name would made him materialise in front of them. James couldn't help but remember the way that the Wizards had feared to say Voldermort's name and would always whisper when they talked of him as if he could hear them. They were pitiful, unreasonably scared of shadows and loud noises. These children truly had something to be scared about and it sickened James that the Warden could have ever done something like this.

"Trust me, Jazz." James said staring at each of them individually. "There is now way that he could get to you here. That, I promise you."

He couldn't help but notice that Michael looked sceptical at his announcement, he obviously believed that whoever attacked James was after the children. And James didn't blame him for wanting to protect them, his current state was evidence to this.

"Now, how about we get down to why we are here?" James asked before reaching for his remaining, rather flat, Sprite. The session he held with the older children always went the same way, he'd talk to them of the younger children for a while before working his way towards them. In this session however he was prompting them to speak to each other about what had happened so that they could learn that speaking to a doctor wasn't the only way that they could be helped. That in fact, just talking about it would help them.

The session ended on a happy note two hours later. He sent, Alan, Jazz, Anna and Richard out to meet the others and to get Chris to send in the other four fifteen year olds. "You had better stay here today, Michael. You and I both aren't really in any state to run around in the woods playing games." Michael chuckled at James' rather fake looking wishful look.

"Sir?" Michael started after a few minutes of James typing on the laptop and saving the previous records. "How do you know for sure that it wasn't _him_ that attacked you last night?"

"Apart from the fact that every police officer between here and San Francisco knows his face and is looking for him?" James pointed out before continuing. "Whoever was out there last night wasn't at all interested in what was in the huts. They attacked me even though I was fifty metres from here and could have been avoided."

"So they came looking for you?" Michael asked with a frown.

"That is possible." James conceded as he shifted his back to ease some of the tension building in his ribs. "They may have just been passing through and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Are you ok though, Sir?" Michael asked again.

"I assure you I will be fine. You are not here to worry about me, It's my job to worry about you lot." James pointed out with a grin.

"Yes Sir." James never had got any of the children out of calling him sir, especially Michael who was only three years his junior and older than he had been when he was put in Azkaban. Michael continued, "It's just we are all getting rather attached to you, Mr. Halliwell and Mr. Trider."

James just smiled at the teenager as he closed his laptop and knowing that Michael had more to say he didn't speak, just waited. A minute later he got up the courage to ask. "What's going to happen to us all in eight days when we leave here?"

"You'll all be placed back into the City Orphanages, but myself, Mrs Matthews and a whole army of social services will be checking every single inch of where you go as well as all of the staff." James told him seriously. "What happened to you before wont be allowed to happen again. Our department is already starting a wide sweep of all the staff at all nineteen orphanages in our jurisdiction and I know that the a lot of the surrounding councils are doing the same."

"Will we be split up?" Michael asked though James could tell he already knew the answer.

"Unfortunately there are no other orphanages with the capacity to take on another thirty children all together." James sighed. "I wish there were but with the loss of Golden Marina we are short for spaces. None of you will be sent to one on your own I can assure you of that."

"Will we see you again?" The teenager asked not willing to look directly at James.

"Yes." James told him simply to get the point across, Michael looked at him. "I am your primary Psychologist. I will have to check up on every one of you at least once ever four weeks until I deem it unnecessarily and any one of you will be allowed to ask to see me at any time."

Michael smiled at James gratefully so James continued with a grin. "Part of Kevin's job is to check on foster placements and recently appointed children in orphanages so he will be around to see you all quite frequently and even though Chris isn't in the department and cant just walk into any centre I am sure that I can get him permission to visit every once in a while."

"Thank you, James." Michael said with a grin as James looked up shocked at the use of his first name.

"Finally realised that since I'm only three years older than you I'm not really a Sir?" James teased lightly.

"That's weird." Michael frowned bring another laugh to James who was soon joined by the seventeen year old.

Michael became serious again a few moments later and met James curious eyes with determination. "James, can I ask a personal question?"

James paused briefly before placing the textbook rules to the side. In special cases you couldn't be expected to follow them religiously. He nodded seriously.

"Were you… I mean did you…" Michael stuttered out a few times as he tried to form the question that had obviously been bugging him for a while. "When you were younger…" He breathed out almost violently. "Do you know what we went through? I mean did you?"

He seemed to give up trying to find a way to ask so James, knowing what he wanted offered him a hand. "Is it that you want to know if I grew up like you?"

Michael snapped his head up as he heard James. He nodded with more confidence.

"Mind you, I shouldn't even be allowing you to ask such questions." James paused wondering if he should say anything before he remembered the lesson he himself was teaching them. About opening up to others. This hadn't been what he meant but Michael was an exceptional case and a very observant teenager. "Why do you think that?"

"You just seem to have that look to you. Like I see in the others." Michael tried to explain. "I've seen other twenty year olds and they don't act like you do. Not even Mr. Trider and Mr. Halliwell. Were you abused like us?"

"I was brought up with uncaring relatives. It's not the same but it has a similar effect." James conceded.

"You look like you were betrayed in someway." Michael muttered.

James looked at him sharply. "It wasn't my relatives that betrayed me." James said before he could stop himself.

"It was recent wasn't it?" Michael asked. "You have the same look in your eyes that some of the younger ones have when they were left at the orphanage. They thought they'd been betrayed by the people that left them there. They'd have that look for years every time they saw another adult or tried to talk to a school teacher about it."

"It was." James sighed. "You're very observant aren't you?"

"I've had to look after all of them for so many years. I've learnt how to tell if they're sad, lonely, confused, scared or anything else." Michael told him and James knew it was true. It was the same way that he could tell what a child was feeling by the look in their eyes. How he could tell what Josh was hiding just by listening to his lies. The hidden desire for help.

"Have you ever thought about what you wanted to do once you left the orphanage?" James asked wanting the divert the conversation from himself without being too obvious.

"I've never really thought about it." Michael conceded.

"Ever thought of carrying on what you are doing?" James asked. "Helping children like I do?"

"You mean become a psychologist?" Michael asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"That or an assistant like Kevin in social services. There are many jobs available for eighteen to twenty year old in the orphanages or centres." James told him. Michael thought about it for a while and settled into silence as James pulled the laptop open again and pulled up Alan's folder to enter some group session observations. They didn't speak again until the four fifteen year olds entered the office and James' next session began.

XOXOXOXOXOX

End of Chapter


	10. A Panther's Rage

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 10; A Panther's Rage

**San Luis Reservoir**

James stood leaning on the hut as he watched Kevin and Chris referee a game of football on the beach. It was turning out to be a ridiculous game since they had opened it out to all of the children making it a huge nineteen a side game with Chris' family involved.

The only people not playing was himself, having never really gotten into sport since Quidditch, and Michael since he couldn't play with his injuries. The last few days had been great for James, he had made some great progress with the children, making ground on their issues that he knew he would never have been able to help with so fast had it not been for the groups close knit nature. He was happy for the first time that all of them would make a full recovery.

He'd also gotten closer to Chris and they both knew that they each felt something for the other but neither wanted to make that vital move with so much at stake. James was just far to cautious when it came to his personal life and he guessed that Chris was either being careful because of him being attacked or because he had his sister's and cousins with him. That, however, would change tonight when Wyatt arrived with Paige to take them home in the morning.

Paige would arrive to discuss the future for the children since they would all be returning to San Francisco in the early afternoon tomorrow and James had to give his official report to her about the children.

Kevin blew the whistle to signal the end of the game and all of the children rushed inside the huts to change before they set off for dinner in the camps cafeteria. Kevin went straight in after Michael to change his own clothing and a sweaty Chris collapsed on the ground beside where James was standing. James slipped down the wood of the hut and sat beside him.

"Having fun?" James laughed.

"I never knew how hard it is to keep up with so many children." Chris laughed.

"Or you're just getting old." James grinned.

"I'm twenty-one! That's not old!" Chris glared at him playfully. "Look, James, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Chris." James looked at him carefully.

"Since Aunt Paige and Wyatt arrive later do you fancy going out for a walk along the beach?" Chris asked quietly. James just watched him as he tried to process what he had just been asked. "We could talk, get to know each other better. That sort of thing."

James grinned kindly before nodding his head. "Sure." He said. "It'll have to be late, I need to give Paige my report once she gets here."

Chris smiled widely. "That's not a problem, James. Are you coming to dinner this time?"

"Nah," James said as they both stood up. "I need to finish the reports before Paige gets here or we'll never get away."

They turned and walked into the office and James went to the cabinet whilst Chris walked through into the bunk room. James grabbed a drink and a chocolate bar before sitting behind the desk and opening the laptop and switching it on. He opened the chocolate and nibbled at it as he waited.

He managed half the bar of chocolate before he couldn't eat anymore. His time in Azkaban with only one meagre meal a day at random times had taken its toll on him. He'd never gotten into the habit of eating his fill like he had in Hogwarts. His early life and summer holidays at his relatives house hadn't helped much. He waited and listened until he heard the mass of children leaving the compound under the watchful eyes of Chris, Lucy and Kevin.

He shut off the laptop again as soon as he knew that they were gone. He'd finished the reports earlier before going out to watch the game of football and planned to use this time like he had all week. Ever since he had had that first play with his magic he had used the time alone to practice since using his magic around anybody else was simply out of the question.

Over the few days he'd gotten a slightly better grip on it, though he was still slow. He figured that only practice and use would make the process of pulling up his magic faster and no matter how much he used his _'sight'_ as he'd dubbed it, even two minutes of looking at the flows of life around him gave him a serious headache. He decided that today he would stick to his _sight _since Wyatt and Paige could arrive at conceivably any time and with the _sight_ it wasn't as obvious that he was using magic and also he might be able to sense them before they arrived.

He was watching the fish swimming through the reservoir forty-five minutes later when he felt a niggling feeling as if someone was tapping him on the mental shoulder. He turned his _sight_ as if reacting to someone sneaking up on him and saw two people, or rather the flowing of their lives. He could see them interacting with the car they were in as they pulled into the compound. As he concentrated on the older of the two he saw something that he hadn't ever seen or noticed before. Below the white flow that looked like blood flow was a golden glow that ebbed around like a beating heart. He frowned and focused on the other and saw the same thing.

It was the first time he had actually concentrated on somebody for so long and when he pulled out of his _sight_ he nearly fell other with the pain that throbbed through his head. He grabbed his can and held it to his forehead letting the coolness of it seep into his skin as he listened to the car pull into the compound. He opened the can as he stood and walked from the office and out into the dim sunset light. He took a deep draught of the cooling liquid and felt the headache fall back to a more bearable level.

"Hey. You know with forty children I'd expect more noise." Chris' older brother joked getting a slight whack over the shoulder for his effort.

"They're at dinner. They should be back soon though." James told both Wyatt and Paige.

"What?" Wyatt didn't let up, "You don't eat?"

"Enough, Wyatt!" Paige snapped though it was obvious she knew that her nephew was joking around.

"Actually, I needed to get the reports finished so that I could brief Paige as soon as she got here." James told them.

"Why the rush?" Paige asked.

"Well," James couldn't help going slightly red though he didn't think either of them noticed in the dull light. "Since you two are here, Chris and me are going for a walk."

"Finally!" Wyatt snorted. "He's only been going on and on at me about asking you out."

Paige smacked him on the back of the head as James just stared at him in shock. "Shall we get started then, James?"

"Sure. Office?" James asked gesturing to the still open door before noticing Wyatt looking suddenly bored and anxious. "The children should be coming back now. They'll walk along the beach. If you walk up that way you should run into them."

Wyatt gave him a smile betraying his earlier teasing with his gratitude for an excuse to get out of the administration work. James chuckled at the retreating figure before following Paige into the office for the briefing. He grabbed her a drink from the cabinet as he grabbed the data disk and switched on the laptop.

"We'll go through the separate files in a second but first what do you think of the group as a whole?" Paige asked him as she opened her can and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"I think that without any further upsets there isn't a single one of them that wont make a full recovery." James said before settling comfortably into his own chair and sighing. "I would suggest further sessions with a few of the older ones including Michael, Alan and Jazz and that the over fifteen year olds stay together with Michael to watch them."

"Have you put that part in your main report?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, it's in the official recommendations section." James said knowing that as long as it was there it would be easier to keep them together. "Michael might need some serious work when he leaves the orphanage. He's been in that situation for most of his teenage life after all. The same goes for the sixteen year olds but hopefully with they'll have enough time."

"What about visits?" Paige asked.

"I've suggested a personal visit from myself for all of the under tens in four weeks. And fortnightly visits from a psychiatrist for the older ones. I'll do the first few and give over to others if I think it necessary. I'd like to keep the over fifteen year olds though since they'll have trouble opening up again to another adult." James explained formally. "I've also put Kevin's name down as the social worker on the case."

"That's fine." Paige nodded. "I was going to suggest that actually since a case this size would look exceptional on his record."

"I was thinking more along the lines of the fact the children have all taken a liking to him." James teased her.

"I know that." Paige laughed, "But I do have to think of my social workers careers you know."

"Shall we start with the personal files?" James lost his grin and sighed knowing how long even a short scan of thirty children's reports would take. Paige took a swig of her drink before looking at the screen at the first report.

It was a full two hours later before they finished with the last reports though most of that time was taken up with the teenagers files since there was much more that they had to discuss about their futures. By the time they were finished they could hear singing by the campfire as a lively last night party was underway.

"Shall we go and join them?" Paige asked once James had put the laptop and the data disk away in the lockable cabinet.

"Yeah, just let me grab my coat." James said as he hopped up from his seat and stretched the cricks out of his joints from sitting for so long. They walked out together into the clear night, a full moon lit up the stretch of lake and fought unsuccessfully against the bright glow of the campfire and the lanterns on the drinks table that sat just at the edge of the beach.

As they entered the warm glow the children all glanced at them and the rowdy laughter from the orphanage children trailed off as they caught sight of Paige. "Umm…" She said quietly to James confused.

"They know why you're here." James told them. "I explained to the older ones that there was no way to keep them all together."

The older children slowly got the mood lightened again and Paige and James walked over to Chris and Wyatt where they stood between the group and the water whilst Kevin led the activities. James wasn't sure what Wyatt and Chris were talking about but by the look of Chris he was being embarrassed by his older brother.

"Shall we go?" Chris asked him as soon as he arrived, obviously wanting to get away from his brother as quickly as possible.

"Sure. Paige?" James turned to his boss. "Since they are driving all day tomorrow let them stay up, Michael will undoubtedly get the younger ones to bed when they're too tired."

"Sure thing, James." Paige nodded, "Have a good evening."

James and Chris wandered down the beach for a while in silence as they got farther and farther away from the singing and shouting of the bonfire party at their backs. It was James that eventually started up a conversation. "So, Chris," He asked, "What's it like having so many cousins?"

"You have no idea how irritating at times!" Chris laughed and instantly the tension in the air eased. James had noticed the first time, in the restaurant, how Chris enjoyed talking about his family, even if the man wouldn't admit it. "No matter where you go there is always someone in the way."

"You don't live with them all though do you?" James asked looking sideways as they walked through the sand.

"Nah," Chris shook his head. "I'm spending the holidays at my mom and dads house since I'm staying in a dorm this year, so there's only actually Prue and Anna around but Patience and Pennie are always hanging out with them. And since mom only works evening she ends up looking after Matt, Ashley and Jason too."

"The youngest three?" James verified. "Matt's the adopted one isn't he?"

"Yeah, his parents died in a car crash when he was two. His aunt refused to take him and he was dropped of at Aunt Paige's office." Chris clarified.

"So why did your Aunt take him rather than putting him in foster care?" James asked.

"I don't know really." James got the sudden impression that Chris was lying about this but let it go. It was Matt's secret, not Chris', after all. "I'm sorry; I'm talking all about me."

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind." James insisted.

"But you're a psychologist. All you do is listen to other people." Chris argued. "Don't you get tired of it?"

"Not really." James laughed. "And you know, there is more to it than that." He said with a playful grin.

"So, what about your family?" Chris asked and James tensed.

James decided to stick with the story that he had given people ever since arriving in San Francisco. "My parents died when I was very young." He told Chris quietly.

"I'm sorry."

James chuckled slightly, "You don't have to apologise, it wasn't your fault." James told him with a smile. "I don't even remember them. I was dumped on my aunt and her husband and had to put up with a nasty lump of a cousin that hated everything about me."

"That doesn't sound too nice." Chris put in uncertainly.

James laughed freely for a second. "I was sent to a boarding school for most of the year so I didn't have to put up with them much when I was a teenager. I left when I turned sixteen and tried to make my own way. Eventually I found myself in San Francisco and enrolled in the college."

"Yeah, I remember Aunt Paige was rather impressed that she had a twenty-year-old psychologist working for her." Chris grinned and James flushed slightly at the discreet compliment. "When are you twenty-one at any rate? We could go to P3 and actually get you a proper drink and mom couldn't kick you out."

James frowned, "Its August right?" Chris just nodded slightly like James was crazy. "Then I am twenty-one."

"You're kidding right?" Chris gasped.

"Nope."

"You mean to say that we were here on your twenty-first birthday and you didn't even say anything?" Chris frowned.

"I forgot."

"Forgot to mention anything?"

"No." James laughed. "I forgot about my birthday."

"How can you forget your birthday?" Chris asked as if it was the greatest crime on Earth. James just shrugged. "You're strange. You know that right?"

This time James burst out laughing for the first time in years. He turned to look at Chris when the slightly older man came to a complete halt. "What?" Chris just stepped up to him and placed his right hand on his neck, holding him lightly in place. He leant in and his lips ghosted over James' own lips in a whisper of a kiss. It ended after only a second, barely even a kiss, but Chris didn't pull his head all the way back.

James looked straight into Chris' eyes and knew that Chris was doing the same back. "There's so much hidden in your eyes." Chris told him. James felt himself shake slightly and knew that Chris could feel it against his palm where it still lay against his neck. "Is it fear or pain?"

"God Chris!" James almost sobbed as he felt a stinging in his eyes though he knew he wouldn't actually cry. "I wish I could tell you everything but you wouldn't understand."

"How do you know I wouldn't understand?" Chris said forcefully.

"You have this great family around you. And not one of them doesn't love you unconditionally." James explained as he shut his eyes to stop Chris from seeing the pain hidden there. "I have secrets you wouldn't want to know. They changed me and I'm still not sure what they changed me into."

Chris went to argue further but James felt his magic throb almost painfully as it screamed out at him in warning. He pushed Chris violently backwards towards the lake shore and in that split second saw Chris's eyes widen in shock before James jumped to the side barely dodging a blast of red light that reeked of the Cruciatus Curse.

James spun to face the trees that had been to his back as Chris scrambled for purchase in the sand to stand up. "Oh isn't this just so sweet?" A voice mocked viciously from the tree line as three Death Eaters stepped into view.

James growled as he recognised the voice of the shortest one as she stepped out but he said nothing. "Now, now, Bella." A smooth voice drawled from the tallest one betraying the man as Lucius Malfoy. "No need to be so nasty."

James still remained silent even as Chris got to his feet, he was ready for anything, or so he hoped. "Who are you?" Chris snapped.

"Shut your mouth you filthy piece of trash." The third snarled back as he brandished his wand.

"Draco Malfoy." James growled in the back of his throat drawing their attention back away from his defenseless friend. "I know I really shouldn't be surprised that you shacked up with him."

"Don't you speak about our Lord like that!" Bellatrix snarled.

"And you are still as insane as I remember." James brushed over her knowing that if he concentrated on her for to long he might do something that he would later regret but he wasn't successful as she spoke before he could address Lucius.

"It's such a pity that my blood-traitor of a brother isn't here to protect you." Bellatrix snarled. "I hope he's rotting somewhere in hell."

"Shut your face bitch!" James snarled shocking Chris with his language. "If you ever speak of my godfather again it will be the last thing you say."

Lucius cut in before she could speak again but James could tell she was shaking with a rage only possible for someone that was truly insane. "Allow me to give you my condolences for the death of your half breed guardian. I still remember the defeated look on his face when he died."

"What?" James croaked before he could stop himself.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" Lucius chuckled delightfully. "It was us that put him out of his misery. In fact it was part of Draco's initiation ceremony."

The growl that ripped itself from James throat made the two Malfoys take a surprised step back before they realised what they were doing. "Hit a nerve have we?" The younger Malfoy drawled as he got other his surprise.

James glared at the heir. "I'll kill you." He said it so quietly and with such anger that if he could see his adversaries face through the mask he knew he would see a slight twinge of fear.

"And what could you do about it?" Bellatrix laughed. "Out here all alone with only tricks to help you. There is no Dumbledore to save you this time. Oh wait, he discarded you as soon as you were of no use to him didn't he?"

"Enough of this." Lucius snapped. _"Avada Kadavra!"_

"No!" James cried out as the beam of sickly green light flashed from Lucius' wand and lanced towards Chris. In that instant he regretted pushing Chris as hard as he did away from the Cruciatus as he didn't have time to jump in front of him before the curse would strike him.

James could only stare in hopelessness as the killing curse struck towards Chris. It seemed to James to be an endless wait but in reality Chris reacted as the Death Eater started to utter the curse. He burst into white floating orbs like James' Whitelighter had. The curse struck the center of the orbs and James cried out again as the orbs were sent flying a few metres and Chris' limp body rematerialized and crashed into the sand. He lay still.

James span back to Lucius in a rage. His eyes glowed in the darkness and he growled low in his throat again before feeling his body melt without his conscious control. His anger at the Death Eaters and worry for Chris had set off Shadow's mind and forced the change. Draco's rather shaky stunner passed over him as he launched himself forwards. He didn't know which one he had chosen to strike at first, the one that murdered Sirius, he who had killed a grieving Remus or the one that had just killed Chris. In the end he crashed into Bellatrix with his jaws and kicked Draco in the gut with a clawed hind leg.

He felt his claws slash through clothing, skin and flesh as Draco cried out in pain and shock. Bellatrix whimpered slightly as Shadow's teeth sank into her neck. He was about to twist his head to snap her neck when a bludgeoning curse struck his shoulder from Lucius forcing his mouth to open and sending him away from the two, now collapsed, Death Eaters. He twisted as he fell to land on his feet facing his last adversary.

His rage fueled his body, blocking out the pain from his fractured shoulder blade and ribs. He watched as Draco and Bellatrix apparated away with twin cracks and Lucius leveled his wand at him. James knew that by the time he crossed the gap the Death Eater could hit him with any spell. He leapt regardless.

"_Sectumsempre!"_ Lucius chose his spell but it never came into contact as he was sent staggering sideways by an invisible force that also sent James slightly off course. He righted himself quickly and leapt again at the Death Eater and bit down into his wand arm and scrapped his claws down his chest as he bowled him over.

He landed on sand however as Lucius disappeared with another crack leaving James panting wildly on the beach. Pain overwhelmed his shoulder as his nerves kicked in. He turned and saw Chris propped up weakly on his elbow. His other arm lay limply across his stomach. As James watched he collapsed backwards into the sand.

James tried to jump but his shoulder screamed at him forcing a yelp from his jaws. Even through the pain he raced to Chris side and nudged him with his nose against the man's shoulder trying to get a reaction.

Blackness swam around the edge of James sight and his mind began to slow. He needed help. It only took a second to remember all of Chris relations only a five minute walk down the beach. He drew in as much air as he could and his roar filled the air making birds of all kinds take to the air from the trees.

He ran out of breath rather quickly and the blackness crept further into his vision. His last thought was to change back to his human form and he felt his form slide back to its natural form as he fell unconscious from the pain.

XOXOXOXOX

The younger children screamed or whimpered as the roar of a cat filled the air, seeming to rattle the trees themselves. Paige and Wyatt whipped around as it faded away in an almost pained way. "Chris?" Wyatt muttered almost to himself as they realised that it had come from the direction his brother had disappeared in.

"Kevin, Lucy!" Paige span back to the group around the campfire. "Get all the children into the larger hut and lock the doors. That means you three as well." She added seeing that Anna, Patience and Joshua were looking like they wanted to follow.

The two adults, aided by the older children, started ushering the children towards the boy's hut and Wyatt and Paige raced along the beach at full pelt half following the two sets of foot prints and half just heading towards where the roar had come from.

The burst upon the scene with no warning as they turned out of sight of the campfire. Chris lay on his back with James laying on his front a few metres away from him. Blood leaked into the sand from under James. Paige ran to Chris straight away whilst Wyatt ran to James' side.

"Is he alright?" Wyatt called to his Aunt referring to his younger brother. She sighed at sat back with an affirmative grunt. "Can you get over here then?"

She spun on her heels at the worried tone of voice and was soon as his side as he pulled up James t-shirt carefully to get a look at his shoulder. Paige gasped at the bloody mess.

"What cold have done this?" She muttered.

"It has to be magic." Wyatt muttered as he ran his fingers through the blood very carefully feeling the bones beneath. He was only in med school but he knew enough to check wounds.

"Why do you think that?" Paige asked as she watched him work.

"His t-shirt isn't damaged." Wyatt said simply. Paige suddenly realised what he meant, apart from the strange darkness to the young man's t-shirt where it glimmered with absorbed blood there was no evidence that he had even been wearing it when he got the wound. "By what I can tell he has a fractured shoulder blade and several fractured ribs. Other than that just a lot of cuts in that area."

Paige caught his wrist as he held it over the wounded area to heal it. He looked at her strangely. "We can't just heal it. He'd remember getting such a painful wound."

He sighed knowing she was right and pulled a plastic covered bandage from his back pocket, a habit he had gotten into with all the 'accidents' his family found themselves in. He opened it up and pressed it against the wound to try to stem or at least slow the bleeding. "He was defiantly conscious when he got this." He told his Aunt as they looked around. He pointed with his free hand towards where drips of the blood led away towards where Chris was. "He must have been trying to get some help but fell unconscious."

"Do you think it was that Panther?"

"Not unless it can attack magically." Wyatt shook his head although he was beginning to believe Chris' idea that the man under his hand was the Panther. It was the most logical explanation.

Paige stood to wander the area looking for clues as she talked. "So it protected them and then ran?" She walked over to where three sets of footprints led away from the trees but none left. "I think they were attacked by three Demons or more likely more like those Wizards that keep appearing. I'll go get Kevin to help us take them back to the camp."

With that she ran off and Wyatt sat back on his knees as he held the bandage to the young man that had affected their little world. He still hadn't worked out whether it was for the better or not. He couldn't do anything more for the man until he had better light and better materials, but that didn't stop him surveying the man's torso. He had scars that he had rarely seen before especially not in his family where their access to Whitelighter healing powers meant that their wounds healed not just instantly but flawlessly.

This young man had several sets of scars. The oldest looked like a blade had cut into the nook of his elbow, just visibly as his arm twisted around beside him. He didn't want to risk moving his shoulder yet to get a better look but he knew the difference between a natural cut and one made by a blade. Someone, not himself, had cut into his arm and by the positioning of it, it was to get at the blood in his vein.

The other arm had a more ragged scar halfway between his wrist and elbow that almost seemed like he'd been punctured by a spear. It was better healed than the others and the scar was only just visible in the moon's lighting but it was there. Wyatt also knew that the man had a stab wound, probably now almost fully scarred over after four weeks but on the nearest side he could also make out slight scarring from what looked like five deep scratches. With a shock he recognised the placing and type of wound. It was the same as the wound they had seen the panther get when he'd been hit with the shotgun pellets whilst protecting Josh McKay.

He chuckled lightly as he realised that now that he believed that James was the Panther it was the most obvious thing in the world. He'd firstly appeared with a stab wound the morning after they had watched that creature impale the Panther on that glass shard on Alcatraz Island. He'd then appeared to protect Josh against his father the night after James had separated them and now he could see the shared wound that would give him away.

He glanced around at the sand and the tracks there and saw the paw prints. They appeared in the middle of the beach and disappeared in the scuffed sand that trailed between Chris and James. They'd known shapeshifters in their time but never one like James. The question though was what he would do with that knowledge and why Chris was unconscious with not a scratch on him according to his Aunt. Should he be covering for the Panther movements when he didn't know James reason for being in San Francisco? Was he there to get into his families good graces for these Wizards or was he there to help them? Either way, he wasn't getting an answer till one of them awoke.

XOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	11. The Truth

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 11; The Truth

**San Luis Reservoir**

James woke as soon as the rising sun crept through the window and hit his face. His first reaction was that this wasn't either his apartment or even the cabin at the camp. The ceiling was different and the walls were brick. The bed was also softer and wider. He had a fleeting thought that he was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts but then he smelt the faint scent of antiseptic, something never used when magic was available.

He looked the other way and saw a body shaped lump in the next bump but the person's face was blocked by a sliding curtain though it didn't look like it was purposely done. He frowned in confusion before trying to prop himself up on his elbows but as soon as his right elbow took any weight a massive wave of pain made him fall back onto the bed with a groan. How'd he get himself injured again?

With that thought the events of presumably the last night came back to him like being hit with a sledge hammer. First the brief kiss with Chris and then the small argument over James' past. Then the fight between Shadow and the three death eaters. Lastly he remembered that Chris had saved him somehow. He remembered that Chris had turned into those orbs but still been hit by the Killing Curse, did that mean he was dead? No, because he had somehow knocked both him and Lucius off course and prevented James from being hit by the Sectumsempre Curse which out here on his own would have meant bleeding to death since only dark magic could cure it and he didn't have access to such magic.

How had Chris done that? Had his Whitelighter tried to save him but not managed it in time or was Chris a Whitelighter? A noise distracted him and he opened his eyes to see that Chris' older brother Wyatt was now standing at the foot of his bed with a rather stern expression on his face.

"Wyatt?" James asked though he wasn't sure what he was asking.

"Hi, James." The blond young man said. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore." He said simply. "Where are we?"

"You're in Lucy's clinic in the main part of the camp." Wyatt explained. "Paige took the kids back to the city this morning. There was quite a bit or complaints since you weren't there to see them off."

"Where's Chris?" James asked with a bit more emotion colouring his voice. "Is he alright?"

"He's there." Wyatt said pointing at the body in the next bed. "As far as we know he is fine though he hasn't woken up yet."

James knew that it was only the next morning since the children had only just been taken back to the city but he was still concerned by the news. Though Chris was very lucky not to be dead. "What happened?" He asked trying to find out what Wyatt knew of the event.

"I was hoping you would tell me. I saw some rather peculiar tracks around there, tracks that stopped in the middle of the beach for example." Wyatt said and locked his eyes unnervingly on James'. Wyatt was normally very cheerful from what he knew of him which was slightly different then Chris who was rather direct and a little more collected. According to Chris, Wyatt had a way of just letting things happen whereas James knew Chris couldn't ever stand by and always had to give his opinion.

There was none of that cheerful go with the moment attitude in the twenty-three year old that stood before him now. "We were attacked by something in the forest." James said eventually, he hated that he had nobody to tell the truth to but he couldn't help it. "I don't remember much."

"Cut the crap, James." Wyatt said and James shut his mouth with a snap. "Chris always thought you were that Panther from the Island and from that kid's place. And I saw your prints last night."

James looked at him in shock. "Chris knew?" He said admitting his own guilt. He was torn between a nagging feeling of betrayal that Chris had known but not admitted it and a small sense of relief that Chris had already known when he'd kissed him. "How?"

"He recognised your eyes." Wyatt told him. "You and that Panther both have rather strange dark green eyes. I knew for sure last night once all the piece fell into place. You share the same injuries as we saw the Panther get plus the fact that it would show up to protect that kid from his own father just after you separated them. Then there was last night and the fact that the paw print led straight to you."

"Did anybody else see it?" James asked.

"No. I erased the prints before Aunt Paige could get a proper look." Wyatt told him. "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean?" James was confused at the sudden accusatory look in Wyatt's eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Wyatt asked again. "Why are you befriending Chris? What do you want from him?"

"Nothing." James stammered out as he rose again with a wince. "I was running and stopped here." James told him.

"So you didn't come here specifically for Chris?" Wyatt asked.

"No, I only met Chris after getting the job for Paige." James said. Wyatt considered this for a while as James struggled to stand next to the bed. He kept his right arm close to his body but other than that he was fine. "What is Chris?" This got a response from Wyatt who gave him a sharp look.

"What do you mean?" He skirted the issue.

"He turned into white lights to dodge a spell." James told him turning from where he had been looking at the next bed to face Wyatt squarely. "He should be dead."

"He can orb." Wyatt said with a sigh. "He was probably trying to dodge it."

"He's damn lucky." James told him. "That spell kills anything it touches. There is no defence, everyone it has hit has died. Apart from me."

"That must have had an effect since Chris is still unconscious." Wyatt added.

James walked to the end of Chris' bed and looked at the peaceful look on his face. "Does he had other powers?" He asked without looking at Wyatt. "He knocked my attacker off target when he shot a spell at me."

"He's telekinetic." Wyatt said but it was obvious he was holding back.

"Have they attacked before?" James asked. "You don't seem surprised about their magic."

"We've seen magic before." Wyatt told him.

"But not this kind. Chris tried to dodge that spell so he must have known it was bad. Have they attacked before?" James demanded turning again to face Wyatt.

"They attacked the camp earlier in the week and we turned them away. We felt the magic in those spells." Wyatt explained. "Then Chris saw them attacking you by the campfire that night."

"I was hoping none of them saw that." James whispered.

"So you were conscious for it." Wyatt nodded.

"They are here for me." James muttered to himself though Wyatt could hear him. "And you're getting caught in the crossfire."

"How do you know they're after you?" Wyatt demanded. "We've had plenty of evil come for us before."

"Who's we?" James latched on to this.

"My family." Wyatt said.

"You're all magical?" James asked but didn't wait for an answer. "The Charmed Ones?"

"That's actually my mum and aunts." Wyatt explained. "How do you know of them if you don't know who they are?"

"My Whitelighter told me." James told him.

"You have a Whitelighter?" Wyatt asked.

"I've only met her twice and the first time I was barely lucid enough to know she was there, I don't even know her name." James said with a sigh. "She told me that I could find help with the Charmed Ones."

"That's what we do." Wyatt said but his voice was slightly bitter.

"I know how is feels to have everyone expect you to save them. I was like that back in my world but they betrayed me and locked me away in a place so horrible you couldn't imagine it." James told him. "Eventually they'll find me."

"We'll help." Wyatt decided. "We're supposed to right?"

"According to my Whitelighter, I just never imagined that she meant Chris." James chocked and looked back at the unconscious body before making his decision. "Tell him I'm sorry for what happened."

"What do you mean?" Wyatt blurted out. "Where are you going?"

"I've brought a war here that you cant fight, already it nearly cost these children and your brother his life. They are after me and hopefully with me gone they wont come after you." James screwed up his courage and after a quick look at Chris' face he turned back squarely to Wyatt. "I'm sorry for causing this."

"You're a witch though. You said it yourself that its our job to help you." Wyatt countered. "We can fight these Wizards."

"No you cant. There magic is too different, you couldn't understand it let along fight it." James told him. "And even if you got lucky you could never stand up to their Master. Only I can kill him."

"How are you going to leave?" Wyatt told him. "Chris could easily follow you, let alone if we all helped him. How can you run from something that can travel anywhere in seconds?"

"You're not the only one with powers, Wyatt." James told him. "Like I said, you cant begin to understand this magic and I couldn't live with myself if your family were killed over my war. Tell Chris I'm sorry."

Before Wyatt could reach out to grab him there was a crack that filled the air and James disapparated. Wyatt looked at the space that James had just filled before hanging his head. His brother was not going to like this at all.

He was glad in that instant that his Aunt Paige had agreed to take her own car back and that Lucy had left the camp that morning since Wyatt had told her that he would take both Chris and James to the hospital as soon as they awoke. He walked to Chris' side. "Time to go home little brother." He muttered and placed his hand on Chris' arm. They burst into a cloud of orbs which they streamed off out of the window.

XOXOXOXOX

**James' Apartment**

James reappeared with another crack at the foot of his bed and settled down onto it with a sigh. He put his head in his hands and sat there in silence as he let his feelings wash other him knowing that if he tried to hold them in he would snap. He didn't want to leave, he was happy here. He had two great friends in Sam and Jackie, ones that he didn't want to lose but he couldn't help it. Then there was his job and all the children he could have helped.

He couldn't risk using the same name once he had left which meant that his degree was useless but it would be easy enough to redo it but this time keep himself distant from those he worked for.

He felt sorry for all of the children, he had promised so many of them that he would make sure they were safe and that he would visit them but now they would only feel betrayed again. He stood up before he could let himself change his mind and went into the living room to grab a piece of paper from the counter top. On it he wrote a simple note to Sam and Jackie and left it on the top in plain sight. He knew that eventually they would miss him and come looking, at least this way they knew at least that he was safe and that it had been his decision to leave.

He shrugged off his shirt and the bandage he found under it before turning to the mirror and concentrating on the huge bruise that covered his right shoulder. He willed the magic to heal him but it was slow and exhausting but he did manage to seal the cuts and get rid of the swelling. Some of the bruise remained as well as a couple of scars where the larger cuts had been but it was good work all the same.

He grabbed some of his favourite clothes from his cupboard and put them in a backpack before readying himself to leave. He knew he could start over easily enough, he had started a life here with nothing to his name and at least this time he had clothing and money to start with. Also this time he would be better mentally healed than the first time.

He paused before he left and thought of his Whitelighter, would she be able to follow him. He knew then that she wouldn't, she's helped him use his own magic to hide himself and he knew that that protection went against her as well. She only be able to find him if he called for her and that wasn't going to happen. He looked once more around his apartment before concentrating on Seattle and disappearing with another crack.

XOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

Wyatt landing next to the double bed in the room that he and Chris shared whenever they were home. His two sisters had a room each down the hall and then their parents were in the main room but since he and Chris were barely both here they shared this room when needed. He made sure Chris was comfortable before heading down the stairs to find his mom.

He found her along with his dad and his two younger sisters in the kitchen making breakfast. "You're all up early." Wyatt pointed out as he saw them all gathered around the table.

Normally Prue and Anna would be up this early for school but it was still the summer holidays, at least for a few weeks anyway. "We're going to Aunt Phoebe's for the day." Anna told him cheerfully.

"Why?" Wyatt asked.

"Paige called us last night so we're all getting together here to deal with this situation. Your Uncle Coop is going to look after the others so we can focus on this." His mom told him she handed him a bacon sandwich. "How are Chris and James?"

"Chris is upstairs sleeping, he wake up soon I think." Wyatt told them. "I think he exhausted himself somehow."

"How did he manage that one?" Leo asked. "It's very rare for a witch to drain themselves."

"I've got an idea but I'd like to talk to Chris about it before I tell you." Wyatt told them. His mom seemed to want to argue this but then second guessed herself knowing that it was pointless trying to force an answer out of either of her sons.

They heard a noise from upstairs followed by a rather sarcastic sounding "Ouch." Wyatt hid his laugh before gesturing for his parents to stay here. He grabbed another plated sandwich and a glass of water before heading up the stair to the his old room. As predicted Chris was struggling to stand with the aid of the bed. Wyatt watched him for a second with a grin on his face.

"Are you just going to stand there or help?" Chris demanded without looking up. Wyatt chuckled before placing the plate and glass on the bedside table and helping Chris stand before depositing him on the edge of the bed.

"Here, drink something." Wyatt offered as he picked up a glass of water and gave it to his almost twenty-two year old brother.

"I don't believe how tired I feel." Chris complained.

"Maybe you should get some more sleep then?" He suggested.

"It's not that kind of tired. What happened?" Chris muttered. "I feel like I got slammed by a wrestler."

"I think that would have come out better." Wyatt sighed. "What do you remember?"

"I remember kissing James." Chris said with a rather dazed look.

"You kissed him?" Wyatt's eyebrows disappeared towards his blond hair.

"Shut it." Chris snapped lightly.

"What happened next?" Wyatt prompted.

Chris seemed to pause as he thought for a second but whatever he was remembering he didn't offer to his brother. Obviously something private. He moved on easily enough. "James shoved me backwards and threw himself to the ground as one of those Wizarding spells just missed us. I think it was that red curse that Wizard hit you with that nearly took down your shield."

Wyatt waited patiently for a second before Chris began to describe the discussion between James and the three attackers. "He knew them and they knew him. I've never seen so much hate in James. And I think they killed his godfather and his guardian. Something about putting his half-breed guardian out of his misery." Chris shook slightly as he remembered the pain in James' voice when he heard about his guardian. "It was awful, they just taunted him about their deaths."

"Who started the fight then?" Wyatt asked to get his brother's mind off of those emotions.

"The older man, I think he was the same one from the other night, shot that green curse at me that only just missed me the other time. I remembered the death I felt in it before and James screaming 'No!' so I orbed. I don't remember exactly what happened but I felt like the world had exploded around me. I think the spell hit the orbs 'cause I woke up sore and saw that the Panther again and I knew that it was James. Two of the attackers disappeared with loud cracks like they were Blinking." James described with a frown before continuing. "Then the Panther turned on the man that shot that spell at me but couldn't reach it in time. I knocked them both to the side as the man yelled a spell making him miss."

"Can you remember anything else?" Wyatt asked drinking in the details and trying to remember everything he knew of the magic being used.

"I think the spell went something like Sectumsempre but I don't know what it did." Chris explained. After that the Panther pounced and ripped into the man before the man disappeared like the others. The last thing I remembered is the Panther looking at me. God, Wyatt, it must be James. There's no other explanation."

"I know. I talked to him this morning once he woke up." Wyatt sighed. "I told him I knew he was the Panther." Wyatt went on to explain everything that James had told him and sat down next to his brother as he told him of James disappearing for their safety.

"We should find his Whitelighter." Chris decided after it had all sunk in. He had already thought long and hard about what he would do when he could prove that James was magical and he had decided to do everything he could to help him but now James was gone.

"Hold on." Wyatt raised his hand. "Everyone's meeting here soon. We're going to have to tell them everything about James and get them to help us."

Chris nodded. If James' Whitelighter had told James that they were supposed to help him then that is exactly what they would do, whether James wanted it or not. "Let's go." Chris told Wyatt before allowing his older brother to help him out of the room on his weak legs and down to the Solarium where they found their parents and sisters.

"Sweetie!" His mom said heading for Chris where he was propped up against his taller brothers shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Just exhausted." Chris told them with a small smile though their was too much going on in his mind to say more at the moment.

Leo took Chris' other side to hold him up before addressing Wyatt. "Could you make sure Prue and Anna get to your Aunt Phoebe's?"

"Sure." Wyatt told him before shifting Chris's weight fully onto his fathers. Whilst Prue and Anna could easily orb around an area like the house, they had more trouble orbing long distance so even though they would orb themselves, Wyatt would guide them. He crossed the room and disappeared in a cloud of orbs with his sisters by his side.

Chris drunk water and ate a rather large breakfast as they waited for his Aunts to arrive together. Since his Aunt Phoebe could travel around like he could, Paige would pick her up on the way. They didn't have to wait long at all and both of them hugged him as soon as they saw that he was up and about. Wyatt returned from Phoebe's house not too long later having obviously been held up my their younger cousins.

Chris then went on to tell the whole group everything that he remembered about the night before and then he and Wyatt explained to them their reasoning behind James being the Panther and why they had used their magic to hide him from being scryed. Wyatt also retold the story of his conversation with James that morning and Chris was gratified to see that they were more concerned for James then angry about him lying to them.

"So you think that he is one of these Wizards?" Piper asked as they finished speaking.

"I think that he came from some hidden world in England. They have this big war on and he was betrayed by his friends. His godfather was killed by this 'Bella' from last night and then the other two killed his guardian." Chris summed up.

"So he fled to America to escape them?" Paige added. "I think something else happened though. He told me he wandered around England for a while before coming here."

"We'll have to figure that time gap out later then." Piper put in before motioning to her son to continue.

"I think what he told Aunt Paige is true after that. He enrolled in the college and started to work with her at the centre." Chris told them. "As for his powers I don't know. He seems to understand that magic so he would be a Wizard but he has a Whitelighter so he should be a witch like us."

"Could he be a Wizard from England and still have a Whitelighter?" Piper asked Leo since he had been a Whitelighter for decades before they had met.

"No." Leo shook his head. "If he has a Whitelighter then he is a Wicca Witch like you. Wizards and Witches are forbidden from receiving help from Whitelighters."

"Why?" Wyatt asked his father.

"This might take a while." Leo told them. "Millennia ago in Egypt there was a disease that ran through the Witches. Then the only type of Witch was like you. The Disease crippled their ability to use magic. Eventually those that were effected found that by using Magic they could manipulate magic around them to get whatever results they wanted. They turned on your kind and droved them to near extinction."

He let that sink in before continuing. "From then on they worlds separated, the Demonic world first ignored and then forgot about their world until it was lost to both Wicca Witches and Demons. The Elders kept tabs on them to be sure but eventually even they forgot about us."

"Do you know what's going on their now?" Paige asked him.

"The last I heard was from about thirty years ago." Leo told them. "A madman was on the rise and had hundreds of followers. He was killing as he saw fit and trying to over through the rather corrupt Ministry. I didn't hear anything after that."

"So, it's bad if Demons are allying themselves with these Wizards." Wyatt suggested referring to that first attack at the camp.

"That must be why James' Whitelighter told him to seek the Charmed Ones help." Paige added. "He cant fight both Demons and Wizards alone and neither can we. That Wizard kicked the crap out of us without even trying."

"So why did James run as soon as he found out who we are?" Piper asked. "Why didn't he ask for help?"

"Because he is like us." Wyatt told them quietly. "He said his world looked to him to save them from everything bad that happened to them and then they betrayed him. Just like our world expects us to save them all the time but at least they don't turn their backs on us when we need them."

"There must be more than him not wanting us to help with his problems." Phoebe joined in.

"There is." Wyatt sighed. "He doesn't want us caught in the crossfire like Chris was last night. That spell kills anything it touches just like we thought and there is nothing that can block it. If Chris had waited another instant before orbing he'd be dead right now. We don't know what these spells do and we cant defend against them."

"I don't care about that!" Chris snapped suddenly. "I want to help him!"

"I know." Wyatt conceded realising that he had been condoning James' actions. "I think we are going to need his help as much as he needs ours."

"So what?" Piper asked. "We try to scry for him?"

They all nodded and Piper, Phoebe and Paige left the room to collect the equipment they'd need as well as the blood they'd collected originally from the Panther. Chris and Wyatt worked on a spell that would release the protection that they had placed on him which was easy really, all it needed to do was severe the magic that tied them to the spell.

In ten minutes they were settled again around the wicker coffee table in the solarium. Wyatt and Chris had countered their original spell and now Paige, who was the best at scrying, was swinging a crystal scratched with James' blood over a map of San Francisco.

"Nothing?" Piper asked her sister after another fifteen minutes of tense waiting.

"No really, it keeps pulling to the North but it's nothing strong." Paige told them.

"Perhaps he's no longer in the city. He can do that Blinking thing after all." Wyatt added helpfully.

Paige grabbed the larger map that showed the whole of Northern America. She swung the crystal again but it would settle on anything. "I think he's in America somewhere but it wont pinpoint anything other than that he is in the west."

"That sounds like what happens when a Whitelighter hides their charge." Leo told them suddenly. "It gives a general area but nothing more specific."

"So what do we do now?" Piper asked. "Call the Whitelighter?"

"We could if we knew a name." Paige told them since she was a part time Whitelighter. "But you said that he didn't know it." She directed at Wyatt.

"Yeah." Wyatt nodded. "How about we call an Elder?"

"We cant just go around calling an Elder for any odd reason." Leo admonished.

"Why not?" Chris said as he sat upright despite his weakened state. "If we need his help so badly and our world could come crashing down without it then they should help us."

"They'll be really pissed at being summoned down here." Leo pointed out.

"Like I care!" Chris snapped though it wasn't directed at his father. He looked up slightly before yelling. "**One of you get your arse down here this instant!"**

"Christopher Halliwell!" His mum cried. "Watch your language!"

Chris went slightly red as he realised what he had said and ducked his head. "Sorry, mom."

She was interrupted from saying more when white lights filled the room and a chuckling woman appeared in their midst wearing a Whitelighter's cloak. Her face was hidden by a golden glow. She looked around the room being lowering her hood to reveal a middle aged woman with brown hair pulled back in a pony tail. She smirked at Chris.

"Chris, you just annoyed quite a few Elder's up there." She told him with a smile. "I thought I'd come down rather than let one of them berate you for doing what had to be done."

"Who are you?" Chris asked her with a frown.

"I'm James' Whitelighter." She said simply.

"Why doesn't he know your name?" Was the next question he asked. It had confused them all that a Whitelighter wouldn't reveal their name.

"He knows me as what they call a Muggle, I helped him when he first came to the city and then to get other his depression the last few years." She sighed. "He would react very badly at the moment to find that the person he trusted not only was magical but knew all about his life."

"What happened to him?" Chris asked wanting to know what James had refused to tell him after their kiss. He wanted to know what had caused the pain and fear that darkened his eyes.

"Can you tell us where he is?" Piper asked.

"I don't know where he is." She answered immediately.

"How is that possible?" Leo demanded.

"Something I overlooked." She admitted with a sad look. "The protection spell that Whitelighters normally use was too weak to protect against all of the spells that were seeking him. They managed to overwhelm my own spell and that's how they found him at the Reservoir."

"So you used his own magic?" Leo asked with realisation. She nodded and he turned to explain to the others. "A Whitelighter can hide their charge either with their own magic which allows them to seek them but nobody else or can use both of their magic to create a more powerful cloak."

"Unfortunately the only way I could hide him was to put as much magic in it as I could. He is hidden even from me unless he calls for me. Something that he wont do." She admitted. "I didn't think he would do that at the time since he was so desperate for help. After what happened to Chris he must have decided that help would come at too high a price."

"So, can you collapse the spell?" Chris demanded.

She thought for a second. "If I pull my magic out of the spell it should collapse his part as well since he doesn't actually know how it works."

"So, do that then." Chris said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"There are many others that are looking for him. Without the cloak it would only take moments at the most for the others to track him down." She told them. "And it wont be pretty."

"Who are we talking about here?" Paige asked. "Demons and Wizards?"

She shook her head. "Demons aren't bothered about him at the moment, they are only teaming up with the Wizards to try to get the power needed to come after you." She explained. "There are three parties of Wizards that want him enough to send a small army as soon as he reappears. Firstly, his old friends who want revenge for his supposed betrayal and want him as a tool in their war. Secondly their version of a government which want to look him up for a trio of murders he never committed and lastly, the group you should worry about most are called Death Eaters."

"Are they the ones that attacked us?" Chris asked.

"Yes, they answer to Lord Voldemort." She explained. "He is destined to kill Voldemort but the man wants him to destroy James' mind and use him as a tool. If that fails then he wants him dead. You must be careful, Voldemort will always strike at James' heart, he killed his parents, his relatives to frame him, his godfather and his guardian. He has slowly destroyed every link that James has had of a happy life and he may come after you to do the same."

"How can James still be sane?" Paige muttered.

"Because he's extraordinary." James' Whitelighter told her plainly. "What I just told you comes to nothing compared to other things in his life."

"What happened to him?" Chris asked wanting to know what James had refused to tell him after their kiss. He wanted to know what had caused the pain and fear that darkened his eyes.

"You remember the power of that creature on Alcatraz Island?" She told him and they all went pale as they remembered it. "That is called a Dementor. Alcatraz Island's basement levels are filled with hundreds of them. If James hadn't already trapped the others in the rock fall you would have all been overwhelmed and your souls sucked out."

"What does that have to do with what happened to him?" Chris demanded as she got off topic.

"When his relatives were killed he was arrested and convicted for murder without a fair trial. He was locked in a prison called Azkaban where only the worst offenders of that Wizarding World are sent. The island is guarded by at least five hundred Dementors who's sole purpose is to bring up every bad memory in the mind of the inmates." She explained with another sigh. "I was forbidden from helping him to escape except to lead him on the path to his Panther form so that he could escape. He spent eighteen months in a five by five pitch black cell with only water and bread to keep him alive as he was forced to live his worst memories more times than I would care to imagine."

"That's just another reason for us to get to him and help him." Chris said as he forced himself to his feet.

"I'll lower the cloak and take you to him but you must be ready for anything." She told them sternly.

XOXOXOXOXOX

**Seattle**

James had paid for the motel room easily enough and spent most of the morning going through his head trying to create some sort of plan but no matter what he did his thoughts always returned to his conversation with Wyatt that morning and his short romantic stroll with Chris the night before. Could he really just ignore this war?

He was remembering that brief kiss for what seemed like the hundredth time when he felt something snap within him. He felt his magic recoil as if the strand that held it below the surface had just snapped and sent it falling back to his core. He countered the effect and pulled it back to the ready even as he realised what had happened.

What had his Whitelighter done? Why had she stripped him of his protection? Was it just so she could find him?

He remembered her warning about the Aurors, Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters, all of which were trying to find him and now they could see him. He grabbed his stuff as if their was no tomorrow and legged it from the room just as he heard a trio of cracks in the room he had just vacated. He stuffed the rest of his belongings in his backpack and slung it other his back. It had taken whoever that was only thirty seconds to find him and arrive which probably meant they weren't Dumbledore's order since they wouldn't have the numbers to constantly man a search spell against him.

A spell hit the wall in front of him as he turned the corridor. The wall exploded into the luckily vacated room on the other side. Definitely Death Eaters then, Aurors were much more subtle in the destruction they used. He heard three rapid cracks from behind him as his pursuers disapparated. James frowned but then realised with horror what was about to happen. He turned sharply and through himself through a window and hit the concrete flooring of the carpark. He rolled and concentrated on his magic. He forced it into a shield around him just as the building behind him exploded outwards sending bricks and other debris into the cars and trees around them.

James felt his shield fail against the first onslaught and gasped in pain as a brick slammed into his side. He stood dazed for a second before he realised who he was facing. The bright glow of the burning motel lit the area in an eerie glow even though it was daytime.

Regardless of who was in front of him though he couldn't help but feel anger at the fact that there had been at least five guests and two employees in that motel when it exploded. He turned to squarely face those before him. Fifteen Death Eaters stood with wands ready. One though wasn't hidden behind his mask.

'_Oh shit.' _James shook slightly as the man stepped forward. His red eyes glowing with arrogance.

"Looks like you slipped up, young Harry, or is it James now." Voldemort smirked at him. "How sweet to use your Muggle-loving father's name. You'll die the same way regardless."

James pulled up his magic as a last ditch attempt to protect himself but no matter what he was now he knew he'd never survive against so many Death Eaters especially with Voldemort at the helm.

XOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	12. Explanations

A New Life in San Francisco

This chapter has a lot of talking in it and for those that don't like that, I am sorry but the information needs to be said. The plots going to move forwards soon though so please be patient.

**Last time**

'Oh shit.' _James shook slightly as the man stepped forward. His red eyes glowing with arrogance._

"_Looks like you slipped up, young Harry, or is it James now." Voldemort smirked at him. "How sweet to use your Muggle-loving father's name. You'll die the same way regardless."_

_James pulled up his magic as a last ditch attempt to protect himself but no matter what he was now he knew he'd never survive against so many Death Eaters especially with Voldemort at the helm._

**Chapter 12; Explanations**

**Seattle Motel**

James gulped slightly as those he faced aimed their wands squarely at him but before he could think of disapparating of there a series of rapid cracks echoed from behind him. He span to the side as he felt the pressing feeling around him that signalled that somebody had raised an anti-apparition ward. From the side of his eye he could see at least ten blue robed Aurors and probably more hidden in his blind spot.

There was a hesitant silence as the two larger sides eyed each other up but the Aurors obviously hadn't noticed Voldemort as the man had slipped backwards slightly and drawn up a hood.

"Harry Potter!" James whipped around as he recognised the voice. "You are under arrest!"

James' hands scrunched into fists and his arms began shaking. The wind picked up around them and started to fuel the fires as they whipped around trying to spread across the car park without any luck. Ron Weasley had made Auror.

All James could think of for those few seconds was the memory of his old best friend as he looked on in disgust as Harry Potter was carted off to Azkaban for life. But Harry Potter was dead now. He was James Evans now and he wasn't ready to give that up for anything on Earth.

"You never could see what was right in front of you could you!?" James yelled out towards the hooded figure of Ron Weasley.

"Me not see?!" Stammered Ron with a small laugh. "You're the one attacking a Muggle house with an army of Death Eaters at your beck and call!"

James glanced over his shoulder and to his horror the Death Eaters had turned their wands purposely away from him and passed his form to the Aurors. James didn't take his eyes off of them but even so he saw the figures of six people far off near the other side of the road. He didn't have time to worry about Muggles witnessing magic. He was about to be caught in the middle of a battle with both sides gunning for him.

"You've always been an idiot, Ron." James glared as his arms began to shake again. "I don't know why I ever wanted to be a friend to you."

"You threw my families love away for nothing more than murdering innocent people." Ron yelled with a shaking arm. "You killed your relatives and not only that but you drove Professor Lupin to kill himself!"

Ron had barely managed to vocalise those last two words when James felt his world burst into light. He could feel his magic flowing out of him like someone had exploded a water balloon in zero gravity. He felt it bunch up around him before it spiralled away. He opened his eyes just in time to see hundreds of spiralling blue streams flowing out of him in all directions. Some faded into the sky, some scorched the ground, others landing amongst the flames forcing the fire to explode but others hit the slow forms of Death Eaters and Aurors sending them flying away from him with blue threads of magic crackling around him.

James was only just able to see the stunned looks on some of their faces before part of the motel behind him, fuelled again by his own magic, exploded towards him. With his back to the building all he felt was the pain that spread through the back of his head. He fell to his knees as his vision blurred but that action probably saved him as no less than ten spells whizzed passed his head.

The next few seconds confused him. His darkened eyes seemed to fill with white lights and for a second he thoughts he was dying before the colours of the world blurred into that of an inside room. He felt himself being held up by strong arms and pulled up his magic again to blast the person away from him. The person must have realised the danger he was in since James was suddenly released and tumbled to the ground. His head hit a wooden floor and his sight returned to him along with his senses.

He bolted to his knees and stared around. He was in a living room with people all around him. He realised that his magic was still spinning around him, though more gently than before. He pulled it into himself and saw the crowd staring at him. He looked forwards immediately at Paige and her two sisters, Piper and Phoebe, both of whom he hadn't spent that much time with. Then there was Wyatt on his right and Chris was standing close by, as he was probably the one that had been holding him up before. On the sofa, though they had jumped to their feet were the two girls from the camp; Anna and Prue, Chris's younger sisters.

Behind the sofa though was someone that shocked James. He bolted to his feet and instantly regretted it as his head spun. "Gemma?!" He gasped out before noticing her clothing. "You're my Whitelighter?"

"Yes, James." She told him with a nod. "I'm truly sorry for the deception. Before we discuss matter we must raise the spell again. They will search for you again in seconds."

Despite everything that had gone haywire in his life over the last few days, James still found that he was nodding. He branched out his magic and met her own. He allowed her magic to guide and shape his magic within him into the now familiar hiding spell that she had cast on him before.

James sagged after it was done as he felt just how much magic he had used to throw away the Aurors and Death Eaters before. He staggered and caught himself on the back of a nearby chair but the movement drove his knee into the low coffee table sending a sharp pain up his spin and to the back of his head. He placed a hand on it to try to sooth the pain.

"James?" He turned to face a concerned Chris. "Are you ok?"

"Just a little sore. You shouldn't have done that." James told him with a slight glare realising that it had been Chris that had orbed into the middle of a battle field to rescue him. "You could've been killed."

"To right you could've!" Piper raged as she rounded on her youngest son. "What were you thinking?"

James felt dizzy for a second but stayed on his feet as he listened to Chris stammer on with excuses. "You cant blame him, Piper." Paige joined in, in her nephews defence. "You've done the same things hundreds of times to rescue people."

"Piper's right, Paige." James spoke over the argument that was brewing just as Piper's husband walked into the room and stopped short at the sight of everyone in his living room. "None of you knew what you were up against. You could've all been killed in seconds if they had seen you."

"That's no reason to stop me from helping you." Chris tried to interrupt but James spoke over him.

"And now they know about you. It's only a matter of time before they find you and kill you for helping me." James' hand, still behind his head, twitched slightly in his aggravation and sent pain through the back of his head.

"They did what had to be done. What has passed had to happen." Gemma joined in. "It is your destiny to help them and their to help you."

"To hell with destiny!" James yelled making everyone jumped slightly including Gemma who he turned the full force of his anger against. "Destiny killed my parents because it said that Voldemort had to come after me! If it wasn't for destiny they'd still be alive."

He took a weak step towards her and his magic broke out of his guard again and swirled towards her. "Don't talk to me about destiny!" James yelled again. "I could've been happy if it wasn't for someone's screwed up idea of destiny! Get out!" James yelled and without his control his magic spiralled out as a spiralling blue jet and as soon as it hit her she burst into orbs and disappeared.

"What happened?" Leo asked his wife though she seemed to be in shock. James slumped down onto the sofa and pulled his hand away from his head with a wince. Blood was covering his palm. He heard gasps from Wyatt and Chris to his left before the sofa slumped close by as someone sat. He didn't realise quite how badly he was shaking until Chris' arm squeezed his shoulder. His head sagged down and he felt a warm tingling over the back of his head as he listen to Piper explain what had happened.

"We found him in Seattle. We arrived just before his he broke out a window and the building exploded." She said though James couldn't see her expression. "He made some sort of silver shield but it collapsed as he stood. A group of Wizards like the ones we saw before were talking to him. Called him Harry Potter but just as it looked like this man was going to kill him another twenty people arrived wearing blue robes but still holding those wands."

Piper paused in her explanation to shoo Anna and Prue out of the room to get a cold towel and a bowl of water and Paige took up the explanation. "This guy who James called Ron started shouting at James about how he was a murderer who killed his family and drove this other guy to kill himself. Something happened then and those blue lights we just saw spiralled out and sent everyone flying. Chris rescued him just before he got hit by those spells."

James slumped as the warm feeling ended and he felt somebody probing his right side where James could feel the blood caking his t-shirt. His head fell on his arms as the warm feeling spread again and he realised that someone was healing his wounds.

"I saw two of those blue robed ones fall to the ground by those green spells." Phoebe gasped, "I think they were dead." James couldn't help but swallow deeply as his throat constricted.

"Can I explain everything later?" James asked turning his head to the side to speak clearly. "What I did took a lot out of me. I need to sleep."

He let Chris guide him sideways and felt his head fall into Chris' lap as he let his eyes close as all the magical and emotional turmoil of the last day caught up to him and he fell asleep with Chris' fingers carding through his hair.

XOXOXOXOX

He woke up and the first thing he noticed was that the light was on, suggesting that he had slept away the rest of the day. He tilted his head and found a window to confirm that it was now just after dusk by the looks of the dim sunlight. He tried to bring his hand up to his head to check the wound he had gotten but was stymied by a rather well tucked in blanket around his body. He pushed down the instinct to shove off the strange item or rather the strange feeling of it. He'd never been tucked in before in his life.

He wrestled free his arm and prodded gently at the back of his head and was glad to realise that there wasn't any pain left or even a mark to show that he was hit by a piece of rock travelling at high speeds. He pulled himself upright and checked his side and smiled as when he discovered that his t-shirt was in perfect condition without even the smallest tear. He pulled it up to show his abdomen and was slightly shocked to see that not only was the gash in his side from that morning gone but so was the scratches from the shotgun and even the stab wound.

He heard a few steps from the other room and let the t-shirt fall to cover him again just as Piper Halliwell walked into the room with a tray with a small plate of food and a glass of water on it.

"Oh!" She smiled at seeing him sitting up. "I was hoping you'd wake up soon."

James slipped his legs over the side of the sofa he had fallen asleep on and wondered where Chris had gone. "I'm really sorry to have taken up your sofa for so long." James said since he had nothing better to say.

"I really don't mind." The brown haired woman told him with a grin. "I don't think my son would have had it any other way."

She sat beside him and rested the tray on the low table in front of him. He didn't really fancy anything to eat but gulped down half the water in one go. "Is he ok?"

"Who? Chris?" Piper said innocently. "He's fine. He's upstairs with Wyatt and Leo scouring the book for information on Wizards."

"Did they find anything?" James asked.

"Only about Wizards in our world. All evil and fight with staffs. As far as we can tell they don't have any relation to your world at all." Piper informed him.

"Are you sure you want to help with this?" James asked.

"Even if we hadn't already stopped their plans three times and even if the Whitelighter hadn't told us it was our destiny to help we still would." Piper told him. "Chris likes you, James. And even though I don't know you personally that well I would never allow something to happen that would hurt my youngest boy."

"You're serious?" James asked.

"Very." Piper told him. "We've done this ever since our Grams died, to stop now would betray all those that died to help us and that we couldn't help."

James looked at her steadily for a short minute before sighing. "Sorry." He muttered. "I'm not as used to family members coming to the rescue as you seem to be. No matter what I said to Gemma I do realise that our two worlds have collided and without us working together to buffer it everything will go to hell."

"Literally!" Scoffed Piper making James chuckle.

"How about I give everyone a crash course in the Wizarding World?" James offered. "Just grab about ten more of these glasses of water and lets go find the others." He downed the rest of the water before following a chuckling Piper into the kitchen where he grabbed the offered pitcher of water.

He assumed that the house he was in was Chris' childhood house. Halliwell Manor where Piper, Phoebe and Paige had lived together before they moved to their own houses when they had families. James could feel something within this house, something powerful but also something neutral. It wasn't inherently good like healing magic or wards but it wasn't malicious either.

James followed her up to the upper floor and then up a narrow staircase to the attic. The attic was tidier than his own childhood house but it was still cluttered. A table in the centre contained what James recognised as potions ingredients as well as a cauldron. The three men were standing around a stomach high pedestal in the centre of the room as they flipped through pages in a rather thick and old looking book.

"James!" Chris almost yelled thought the grin on his face belied his emotions. James smiled back at him. He barely managed to say anything back before he felt himself crushed in a fierce hug. He stiffened up under the onslaught but Chris didn't notice. He did however see the strange looks from Wyatt, Leo and Piper though. It was only a few seconds but James found himself glad when Chris pulled back.

James shrugged it off knowing that he was just uncomfortable with hugs. He'd only ever gotten used to Mrs. Weasley's and Hermione's hugs but they'd both believed him to be a murderer so his track record wasn't that brilliant.

"Did you find anything else?" Piper asked her husband to cover the tense atmosphere.

"Nothing, only a mention about Merlin." Leo told her. "I remember that he was a powerful Wizard in the early centuries of civilised Britain but nothing about wands or Wizards like these."

"How old is that book?" James asked as he stepped across the room.

"It's been with our family for centuries, ever since the witch trials." Piper told him. "Some of the articles date back to then, others are more recent. We basically add things to it as we learn about them."

"Is it protected?" James asked.

"It's spelled never to allow an evil person to touch it." Chris told him. He realised that Piper and Leo were both looking at him and realised what they wanted.

"You want me to touch it?" James asked with a raised eyebrow. They didn't say anything but Chris drew in a breath as if to argue with his parents. "Don't worry, Chris. I can understand their concern, especially after this morning."

With that, James reached out a hand and laid his finger tips on the top of the spine. Nothing happened and Leo and Piper both smiled at him. James reached out with his magic and felt around for the spells. They were complex and more so, they were unbreakable. They didn't allow access to the book for anybody who used magic, willingly, for evil purposes nor to those that wished harm to come to anyone of the Halliwell family. It was a intriguing bit of work all for just a book, though this book seemed to be intricately connected to every member of the family.

"What can you tell us about Wizards, James?" Piper asked.

"Everything really." James told them. "If you get everyone together that needs to hear this then I'll teach you everything I know about the Wizarding world."

"Wyatt, go and get you Aunts." Leo told his eldest son. Wyatt just nodded to James before disappearing into orbs.

"Can you all do that?" James asked as he stared at the orbs as they disappeared out of the window.

"Only those with at least half Whitelighter blood in them." Chris told him. "Wyatt and I can do it flawlessly now and so can Aunt Paige. Dad used to be able to do it before he became mortal. Anna and Prue are learning but they haven't got it perfect yet. They tend to leave people behind or end up off target. Aunt Paige's children can sometimes do it if they are really scared or angry. Aunt Phoebe's side just do that Heart travel thing they do where they just glow and fade out but they can only do that if they are travelling to somebody they know."

James gave him a really confused look which just made Chris go slightly red. "Well, it made sense to me." Chris groaned.

James just laughed at him and Piper and Leo chuckled at him. "Don't worry about it, Chris." James smiled at him warmly. "By the time I'm finished tonight you be confused about what your own name is."

Chris groaned again just as Wyatt appeared with Phoebe on his arm closely followed a few seconds later by Paige. She looked to Phoebe straight away. "I hope it's ok with you Phoeb's but Henry's working tonight and Ashley and Matt at yours."

"What about Joshua and the twins?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"The twins are out at a friends birthday party and Joshua is out at the cinema with his potential girlfriend." Paige sniggered slightly.

"Joshy's got a girl?" Wyatt seemed to cheer up about ten notches at this information.

"Leave off Wyatt or do I have to remind you about your first girlfriend?" Piper told him sternly.

Chris actually giggled at this before leaning down slightly to James' ear to whisper, in advertently brushing James' cheek in the process with his close cut stubble. "First was this scrawny bint of a girl with this squeaky voice that nobody liked. Though that was better than the demon he dated when he was seventeen."

James couldn't help but laugh at the imagine of the tall blond man falling for somebody like Lavender at Hogwarts with her annoying voice. James turned slightly to whisper back. "It makes me glad I'm into guys."

Chris winked back slightly and James suddenly felt as if all the tension he was holding onto evaporated. Chris still liked him after everything that had happened since that kiss. Paige suddenly realised that he was there and was in front of him in an instant.

"James. I'm so happy to see you up and about." Paige smiled widely.

"It'll take more than forty men and an exploding building to kill me." James smiled back. "Though I think it was really due to my luck and to Chris that I am still standing here."

"Why did you want us all here?" Phoebe turned towards her older sister.

"We cant find anything on these Wizards in the book so James has offered to teach us everything he knows." Piper told them both.

"Bare in mind I was only in that world for six years before they locked me up so I don't know how everything works." James said tiredly.

"You know more than us." Wyatt pointed out.

"Why don't you all get comfortable then and I'll start. I'm not much of a story teller though so please don't interrupt." James took a gulp of water as Piper, Wyatt and Phoebe settled onto the old sofa in the room. Paige and Leo grabbed seats on tall high stools and Chris lingered on the arm of the sofa. "Right. Where to start? As far as I know every country on Earth has a hidden Wizarding World, some are more up to date with the modern world but others aren't. I know for a fact that there is a school called. Salem Academy in Eastern America that caters for the Wizarding population in America but I don't know more than that I'm afraid."

James started pacing slightly as he itched behind his ear and played with his hair as he ordered his thoughts before continuing. "The most concentrated region is in Europe especially in Britain which is the most powerful Wizarding country. They are still in the 1600's when it comes to normal technology but their Wizarding military, which were the ones in blue earlier, are the most powerful and best trained in the world." James sighed. "There are three schools in Europe that teach magic to all magical children, whether they have non-magical parents, half and half, or are Pureblooded. They teach magic from the ages of eleven till eighteen and are all boarding schools. Hogwarts is the largest and is somewhere in Scotland and is where I went when I turned eleven and was told about who my parents were and who murdered them."

Chris flinched slightly as James' eyes turned cold for a brief second before going emotionless again. "There is a major civil war on at the moment in Britain between the man who murdered my parents who calls himself Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic who are incompetent fools only interested in lining their own pockets with gold whilst keeping the population in place." James decided to side track and tell them of Voldemort's life. "Voldemort was born Tomas Riddle. He was placed into an orphanage at birth and grew up to hate the world. He went to Hogwarts and made a name for himself before disappearing after he graduated. Ten years later Voldemort emerged and began collecting followers that he dubbed as Death Eaters. They waged a war of terror which almost drove the Wizarding World into complete chaos. By the time I was born half of the Ministry officials were allied with him and people were scared to even venture outside or even speak his name. They still call him He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or You-Know-Who."

James chuckled slightly before continuing. "Just after I was born a Seer, applying for a job at Hogwarts, had a premonition that told of a child, born at the end of July to parents who had defied Voldemort three times, who would kill him. There was two children who matched the description, myself and an old friend of mine called Neville. Voldemort chose me and came for me on Halloween when I was one. He killed my parents and by some miracle when he cast the killing curse on me it backfired and drove his soul from his body.

"Because I survived a curse that no other had ever lived through and 'killed' Voldemort I was hailed as a saviour. The 'Boy-Who-Lived.' They raised me on a pedestal and expected me to save them all from everything even when I was a child placed into my Aunt's house with her family even though my Aunt despised my mother and anything to do with magic since she was a non-magical person." James explained with anger lingering behind his words. "To cut a long story short, I grew up without knowing about magic and then was thrown back into a world which expects everything from you and when they don't get it they blame you."

James briefly told the story of his years at Hogwarts, of Voldemort return, of his Godfather death and then of his trial and imprisonment. "There are three different sects looking for me now, according to Gemma. The Ministry and Order of the Phoenix, run by my old Headmaster want me back in prison for murdering my family until they work out how to use me to kill Voldemort. The Death Eaters and Voldemort want to either kill me or turn me against them. Either way, everyone wants me for my powers. I've never met anyone that didn't turn out to only want that."

"Until now!" Chris stood and move over to him before hugging him. James relaxed slightly this time but pulled back after a few seconds and pushed Chris back to the chair so he could finish.

"That's about it for the history." James said before downing a glass of water before starting on Magic itself. "I don't know how your magic works and with only five years of schooling I don't really know how mine works or how it used to work should I say. Basically all Wizards require a Wand to cast and focus spells. They say a Latin incantation to trigger the magic but they have to learn how the spell works and practice using it to get the result they want. These spells cant be used without a Wand but they can more or less do anything. They can cast curses that boil your blood or turn you inside out. They can heal wounds or create defences against spells cast at you. There are literally thousands of spells that can be cast with only a moments concentration and a memorised word." James explained patiently, "There are also wards that take years to master and need more in-depth castings but I don't know any of those apart from how to take apart the Anti-Animagus wards that were on my cell."

He let that sink in before continuing. "There are only a few things possible without a wand. Apparition is the instantaneous transport of one or more people across any distance. You don't need a wand to do it since it is like accidental magic which all children do when they are emotional." James looked at them all with a smile before he vanished with a pop followed instantly by another pop as he appeared behind Leo and Paige's chairs. They span at the second pop but James was already back where he was beforehand. "Most apparition is accompanied with a crack sound like a car backfiring as they displace so much air around them but with proper training and an innate ability you can get it down to an almost silent pop if you concentrate properly."

"What about your Panther form? Is that another Wizarding spell?" Wyatt asked.

"It's a Wizarding ability but it doesn't need a spell. A few Wizards, about ten percent, have a animal form that they can turn into. They are always a non-magical form but they have the magic and intelligence of the human form." James explained. "The change doesn't require a wand and whilst in the form it hides your magic. Since I learnt how to turn into a Panther whilst in Azkaban they don't know I can do it and whilst I am in my form nothing can find me. I travelled across most of America in that form. I nearly got shot by a ranger once though I think I scared him more than he scared me." James said with a grin to lighten the mood and Wyatt and Chris laughed slightly at the image.

"I don't know what else to tell you really." James finished off. "But if I think of something important I'll tell you."

"What about that magic you used earlier?" Piper asked. "That was rather impressive."

"I don't really know how to do that." James admitted. "Supposedly I have magic from both worlds. If I get my wand back I can cast those spells I learnt before I came here but I can also do a few things. According to my Whitelighter I'm a seer but I haven't really had much experience with that except for seeing Josh shot in his bed." James told them with a shudder. "Also I have something called Power of Suggestion but I'm still learning how to control it enough to get the results I want. I suppose that when I got angry I tapped into that one."

"Who was Ron?" Wyatt asked but regretted it when James violently winced like he'd been slapped.

"He was the first friend I ever had. We grew up at Hogwarts together. He was one of the first to tell me what a disappointment I was when they convicted me. That memory was one of the worst I had to live with in Azkaban." James sighed. "I don't want to go back to that world. I'm happy here."

"We don't want you to go anywhere either." Chris told him sternly. "We'll work together to defeat them and once we do you can live here with us."

James looked at them all one by one and saw the same thing with all of them. "Are you sure?"

"We're sure, James." Piper told them.

XOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	13. The Halliwells

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Please read my profile for information about updates on Fighting the Gods.

A/N2; A rather large chapter but nothing really happens. I'm sorry for it but the information needed to get across. I'm going to update the family tree on my profile for future reference though.

Chapter 13; The Halliwells

**Halliwell Manor**

James spent the night back at his apartment after being forced by Piper to allow Wyatt and Chris to stay in his flat with him to ensure that he was safe and that he would come straight back to the Manor the next day for breakfast. Paige had also given him the day off since he was supposed to recovering from the attack at the Camp anyway so nobody would expect him to be back to work yet.

He had spent most of the night talking to Chris and Wyatt about their lives though nothing about magic was mentioned since it was better to leave it for when everyone was together. He discovered that they had grown up at Halliwell Manor together and with their parents and two younger sisters. James could tell that the familial bonds were stronger within the family than with most but he could also see a slight tension between Chris and his older brother that he decided to stay out of for the time being. James, in return, told them about what he had been doing in San Francisco whilst at college. He told them all about Sam and Jackie and made a mental note to call them the day after and get together with them.

There was also an unspoken agreement between himself and Chris that nothing would progress between them until the air was cleared where magic was concerned. They'd move forwards only once they knew more about each others magic. They didn't sleep until the early hours of the morning and woke early in the morning.

James allowed Chris to orb him over to the Manor rather than surprising the others with his sudden appearance via apparition. They appeared in the middle of the living room and James felt dizzy for a second though his appearance this time was more pleasant than the last time he had hitched an orb. "You'll get used to it." Chris told him with a smile and James nodded.

"Wait until I apparate you somewhere." James smirked. "You'll never get used to that."

"What's it like?" Asked a wondering Wyatt. James had worked out last night that Wyatt liked to be first in most things. Chris didn't mind really but it obviously was a sore point.

"Imagine being pulled through a straw." James told him demurely and watched as his curious expression turned into a sour one.

"Why would anyone want that?" Wyatt asked.

"Not everyone can orb, Wy." Chris told him using a shortened name that James had never heard anyone call him before.

"How long does it take for you to orb to Europe?" James asked.

"Depends on the person." Wyatt told him. "I can do it in about five minutes but Chris normally takes about six or seven."

Chris' face tightened and James knew then what the tension was. Wyatt was the more powerful of the two and Chris whilst not jealous had a complex about it. "If I apparate from here I'd appear in England without more than half a second of travel time." James told Wyatt firmly and heard Chris snort in amusement as Wyatt looked at him shocked.

"Boys!?" Piper called from the kitchen. "Is that you in there?"

"Yeah mom!" Wyatt yelled and turned to move through the house, covering his embarrassment.

"Don't let him get to you, Chris." James told Chris as soon as Wyatt walked out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked though it was clear he knew what James was talking about.

"He's no better than you are even if he has more powers than you." James pointed out.

"How do you know he's more powerful than me?" Chris asked with a sad look thinking that James had already seen that his older brother was the powerful one.

"It's written in your face every time he mentions magic." James told him.

"It's complicated." Chris said firmly before walking into the hallway leaving James to catch up.

"Chris!" James grabbed his arm just before they walked into the kitchen. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry."

"You wouldn't understand. According to what you said yesterday you're powerful too." Chris frowned as if he was expecting a rejection of some kind just because James was powerful.

"And I hated every moment I was. Why do you think I gave up magic when I came here?" James said.

"Wyatt's always the one saving people." Chris muttered darkly. "He's the Leader of the Light and everyone knows it."

James shrugged. "I didn't know that." He said simply. "Let me just ask you one thing, Chris. Was it you or Wyatt that saved my life yesterday?" With that James entered the kitchen and left Chris staring at the dinning room table in realisation.

"Hey, James!" Piper greeted him. Anna, the youngest daughter, was also in the room chatting with Wyatt. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm better." James told her with a smile. "Did you want any help?" He asked her as she struggled to break more eggs into an omelette mix and cook another omelette at the same time.

"You can cook?" Piper seemed shocked.

"Sure. I cooked for my relatives ever since I was old enough to reach the top of the stove." Piper looked disapproving at this bit of information but let it go as James smiled at her.

"I'm just rather shocked." Piper said as she gave up the stove for James to cook the food as she prepared it. "You'd think with a qualified chef in the family at least one of my children could cook more than pasta."

James laughed. "You should see Wizards then. They resort to magical kitchens and leave most of the work to House Elves."

"What are House Elves?" Anna asked in confusion.

"They're like Yoda from Starwars." James gave her a look before continuing. "They're slaves to families and do all the work for them."

"That's awful." Anna gasped.

Piper turned to Anna as she finished adding another omelette to the frying pan and taking a cooked one away from James. "Since your Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coup are taking Patience, Felix and Jason out to her book signing you'll have to help me with the explanations to James." She said sternly to stop any argument. "And you'd better be down here in less than two minutes with Prue or you're not eating."

"Huh!?" James spun to look at Piper and her youngest daughter at this but only got laughed at by the fourteen year old before she faded from view. "What the…?"

"She can Astral project." Wyatt explained. "She was upstairs the whole time. She's been practicing though, she can maintain it for five minutes now I think."

"Ok, that's just weird." James told them all making them both chuckle.

"Wyatt, can you go check on your father. I think he's in the second bathroom trying to fix the shower again." Piper asked and her eldest son just nodded before walking from the room. "Where's Chris?"

James looked at Piper before shrugging. "He was in the dinning room last I saw him." James sighed. "I'm afraid I got all psychological on him and I think I hit a nerve."

"What about?" Piper asked and even though James was worried that she accuse him of hurting her son she didn't seemed angry at him.

"His inferiority complex with Wyatt." James told her as he put the last two omelettes in the oven to keep warm.

"You saw that already?" Piper looked at him with shock. "Paige said you were good at your job but you've only seen them together a few times."

"I have a knack. Plus, Chris wasn't being subtle about it." James told her.

"I don't think it'll ever change, even before he was born it was like that." Piper told him and got another confused look. "I'll explain later. He doesn't show it normally, only when he is being protective over something or when Anna is around."

James ignored the protective part. "What do you mean, around Anna?"

"Anna is closer to Wyatt than Chris so it hurts Chris sometimes when she show it." Piper informed him. "You could say Chris is the odd one out of the children. It's not that he is different in a bad way but he has a completely different personality to the others."

"More reserved and withdrawn?" James asked.

"Yeah." Piper nodded. "Just like you it seems."

James had to laugh at that one. "He was going on about Wyatt always saving people and being the Leader of the Light. So I asked him whether it was him or Wyatt who risked himself to save me yesterday." Piper smiled at him gratefully.

"We knew he'd feel inferior to Wyatt but even then we couldn't stop it happening." Piper admitted.

"Sometimes situations like this have to occur even without magic to interfere." James told her. "It means people help each other. Why is Wyatt the Leader of the Light?"

"Oh, he controls Excalibur and therefore all the light creatures answer to him." Piper explained. "It doesn't mean much really except his almost invincible when he's fighting with the sword, but a lot of creatures and witches come to him wanting help."

"I pity him for that." James sighed remembering his time at Hogwarts. "At least he hasn't run away from it."

"Nobody here thinks you're a coward, James!" Chris' voice made him jump slightly. He'd obviously walked into the room while they'd been talking about Excalibur. "All of us would've done the same."

Piper nodded her agreement before pulling plates from the cupboard. "Chris, grab the cutlery please and yell for your sisters."

Chris yelled at the top of his voice with a smirk at his mother and a grin at James as he laughed before grabbing the cutlery from the drawer. Piper was shaking her head in mild amusement and James watched the scene with a small smile and at the same time an ache in his heart as he wished he had grown up in a home like this. Where your mother shook her head in amusement when you did something you weren't supposed to instead of slapping you.

James pushed the image down as he grabbed the plates to carry them into the other room. That life was over now, his relatives were dead and he had a new home in America.

The two girls joined them first followed shortly by Wyatt and their father Leo who greeted James with warmth. "Paige and Henry are dropping their children off before they go to work in about half an hour so that you can meet them all though you met them at Camp we thought it would be a good idea for them to learn about you and you about their magic." Piper told him and looked happy to see him nod his agreement. "Then we were going to explain what we can about demons and see what you know that is effective against them."

"That's fine. I was hoping you'd explain what you could." James admitted.

"You said your spells were in Latin right?" Chris said with a troubled look.

"Yeah, why?" James asked.

"There isn't any books I know of that teach spells like that, only long incantations that don't really do much." Chris sighed. "I just thought you might want to continue your learning since it was cut off."

"Thanks. But I couldn't do any of those spells without a wand and they're light beacons. If you use them you become visible on tracking spells. It wouldn't be too much trouble if I was in London or school but out here without anyone else using wands I'd be obvious." James told them all as he served himself up an omelette. "Could we start with you guys? That way I can remember it all better."

"Sure." Piper sat up slightly with a grin. "As you know my self and my two sisters form the Charmed Ones where are magic basically compliments each others and builds in powers. We can cast spells together that are impossible even for Wyatt and Chris even though they have both grown to be more power than any one of us. I have two powers, the first in molecular immobilisation which I can use to temporarily freeze everything in a room though it doesn't effect good Wicca witches like us and yourself. The other is molecular combustion with is basically blowing things up. Comes in handy when fighting demons. I have to use a hand to trigger it though unless I am really angry."

"Yeah, so don't piss her off. She made my door explode by accident when I slammed it once." Chris muttered and shrunk in his seat when his mother glared at him.

"I make things explode when I'm angry too." James admitted, its like a vent. "I shattered everything in my headmasters office just after my Godfather died." Instead of this making everyone anxious everything laughed at James' wishful look knowing that he wanted to do it again.

"All of their powers are more powerful if they are more emotional since they're tied in directly." Leo explained before moving onto himself. "I used to be a Whitelighter like Gemma after I was killed in World War One. After Titans tried to take over the world I became an Elder which are basically the head of good magic. That's why these four can orb since they are half-Whitelighter, I became human about a year after Chris was born, although my Whitelighter heritage still passed onto Prue and Anna, so that I could spend more time with Chris and Wyatt ."

James gave him an odd look at finding out he was dead or at least was dead at one point. "And because Chris told you to." Wyatt chuckled.

"Huh!?" James frowned again. "You're doing it again with the Chris before he was born talk."

"They're trying to confuse you." Piper told him. "To cut a long story short. A twenty-two year old version of Chris travelled back in time to prevent the world from falling to evil and prevent Wyatt from being turned Evil. It was a rather eye-opening experience for Leo and myself and we change a lot in our lives to fix what could have gone wrong."

"Where is that Chris now?" James asked.

"He died an hour or so before I was born." The current Chris told him. It was obvious in his eyes that Chris felt indebted to the previous Chris. "We've summoned him from the afterlife a few times but the Elders don't allow it for anything but emergencies because of the strangeness of having two Chris's."

James suddenly had an even greater understanding of Chris' problem with Wyatt. "You're going to explain the whole summoned from the afterlife later right?" He asked Piper with a small grin which was returned with a nod before James looked at Prue and Anna. "I know you have Astral Projection because you confused me earlier with it but do you have anything else."

"I can sense emotions though only if they're really strong." Anna admitted. "I get it from Aunt Phoebe but not as strong. I could sense the pain from you when you were attacked by the campfire."

James gave a smile before looking at Prue. "I got the Levitation from Aunt Phoebe but I can only hover at the moment whereas she can almost fly around a room. I can also move small things around if I concentrate."

"Their powers are both still growing. In a few years they'll both be much more powerful." Wyatt told them. "I take after Mom with her molecular manipulation but I can just heat stuff up as well as explode them and I can also blanket a group of people with that exploding power. I've also got an impenetrable shield that I can put up around myself and expand it to cover others." James had to admit that it seemed that Wyatt was the power in the family though he'd never seen them in action.

"I've got my Aunt Prue's telekinesis but I still have to direct it with my hand. She got it down to just her eyes." Chris admitted sheepishly. "I also get the odd premonition but only about the family. I don't get visions of innocents like Aunt Phoebe does."

"Who's Aunt Prue?" James asked realising that they weren't talking about the sixteen year old Prue in front of him.

"Aunt Prue is mom and Aunt Phoebes sister. She died in an attack by a magical assassin just before they found their half-sister Paige." Chris explained. "We've talked to her a few times and she's been to all of our Awakenings."

"Awakenings?" James asked confused again though he figured he'd spend a lot of time confused today.

"It's like a christening. We summon all of the dead family members back along the Halliwell line as well as a few others and we bless the child." Piper announced. "It's tradition more than anything else."

"So what does this summoning mean?" James asked. He remembered his headmaster telling him that no magic could resurrect the dead.

"It's not bringing back zombies. We call the soul of a person back into the world to speak to them. We can do it for anybody." Chris told him. "We use it to solve murders and for the awakenings mainly."

James looked down at the table. "My parents?"

"We could try if you want to." Chris said after glancing at his mother. "It'll have to be later though."

James looked up at him and smiled with thanks. They sat in silence for a while as Piper enlisted her two daughter to help her wash everything up. Leo sent Wyatt on a trip to grab the book of shadows in case they needed it for descriptions and then Chris and Leo led James into the front room. Leo then left to pull the two sofas from the conservatory into the living room whilst Chris went to moved one of the two sofas in front of the fireplace so that they could sit in a square on the four sofas once the others arrived.

"Why don't you move it with your telekinesis?" James offered when Chris looked up at him for help moving the rather heavy sofa. Chris grinned at him before straightening up slightly. He flicked his right hand like he was brushing at an annoying fly and the sofa lifted slightly from the ground and darted across the room before settling down in front of the fireplace. "Useful." James grinned before flopping down onto the just moved sofa.

"What can you do with that power of suggestion?" Chris asked as he sat down next to him on the sofa. James grabbed his hand lightly as he thought to his training that he had almost forgotten over the last few days.

"I only realised I had it after the attack by the campfire." James pointed out. "I had a play with it and got around to lighting a candle, mending a scratch and chilling my drink. But then I learnt that I could see with it and I saw everything like it had white slowing through it."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"I think its both my premonition and suggestion magic together." James explained. "If I did it now, I'd see you and that plant there as white shapes of life and then your parents, brother and sisters around the house. Then your neighbours and so on. I don't know the range yet."

"That's cool." Chris told him. "Wyatt doesn't even have anything like that."

James slapped Chris' knee slightly but ignored the comment on the most part. "It's nothing compared to my other magic. Without a wand it's just going to sit there because I can't access it without a wand."

"We'll work something out." Chris assured him. "Leave that there a sec would you, dad?"

Leo straighten from where he was pulling one of the woven sofas in from the other room. He frowned at his son but waited patiently. "Try and do what I did." Chris told James.

James looked first at Chris and then at Leo who nodded to him with encouragement. James stood so that his view wasn't distracted my Chris at his side and shut his eyes briefly as he called his Wicca magic to the surface. He opened his eyes again and knew that his eyes were glittering again as he reached out a hand and directed the magic across the room and willed the sofa to lift. He felt the magic cushion the sofa and he span his palm up and the sofa shook as it leapt to about half a foot in the air. He curled his fingers slightly and the sofa began to drift towards him.

A crash sounded as the front door slammed open and James jumped and lost control of his magic. The sofa crashed to the ground. "Sorry!" James gasped.

"That's ok." Leo smiled. "That was good."

Chris stood as four children ran into the room and pulled up short at the sight of James stood in the middle of the room. Joshua, their older brother walked in calmly with a bag at his side. "Mum and dad are just finding somewhere to park the car. Sit Kiddies!" Joshua ordered and the two fifteen year old twins, the thirteen year old and the ten year old ran to one of the sofas and grabbed spaces along it. "Sorry about them. Dad told them they could play with magic today and they've got all exited."

He turned and saw the tipped over sofa and frowned. Chris came to James' rescue. "James was levitating it when the door slammed open and he dropped it."

"Mum didn't say you could levitate." Joshua told them as he popped the plastic bag of chocolate on the floor near the door. "Is that a Power of Suggestion thing?"

"Yeah. I'm still learning to control it." James admitted. "Did Paige tell you everything?"

"Yeah she did. She tried to explain it to the twins but they were too excited in your magic then anything else." Joshua smiled. "Why don't you give it another try?"

James was surprised at the seventeen year old's calm attitude but then again he'd noticed it at the camp. He was the eldest of the children if you ignored Wyatt and Chris since they were much older than them all so he was bound to be calmer. James shrugged and reached for his magic again as he faced the sofa. It raised into the air with the same gestures and came floating towards them. James was about to place it on the ground when Piper, Wyatt, Anna and Prue walked into the room and interrupted his concentration again making it fall the last few inches with a bang.

James winced as he looked at Piper apologetically. "Close enough." Leo chuckled before gesturing for Wyatt to help him with the last sofa.

Paige and her husband walked in next but didn't come too far into the house since they had to leave quickly. James made his way through the crowd to meet them along with Piper. "James!" Paige smiled at him. "How are you today?"

"Better, thanks." James smiled. "Are you sure I shouldn't be coming in with you today?"

"I'm sure. It would be odd for you to come in anyway after everyone saw you unconscious at the camp." Paige grinned. "Oh, I almost forgot. I've decided to make Kevin your personal assistant. Once your back we'll talk about making him a proper social worker so he can help on your cases."

"That's great!" James smiled. "How are all the children settling in?"

Paige groaned. "We've found places for them all and only had to split them into three groups. Kevin and I are visiting them all today and I'll book your first appointments with them for the end of the week."

"Thanks. Call me if you need anything wont you?" James asked.

"Sure thing." Paige nodded happily and James walked back into the room to find Chris just as Leo and Wyatt pulled in the last sofa. He sat back where he was along the sofa by the fireplace with Chris on his right and Joshua on his left. The sofa by the window, the one that hadn't moved was still claimed by the two fifteen year old twins, Luke and Pennie, Ashley their thirteen year old sister and finally by Paige's adopted child, Matt who was only ten.

Wyatt, Anna and Prue claimed the couch to James' right after pulling the low table into the middle and arranging the chocolate biscuits and a couple of bottles of coke and lemonade on it for people later. Leo and Piper who were both now talking to Paige and Henry would undoubtedly take the last table.

James took a while to realise that Chris was holding the thick tome call the Book of Shadows on his lap. "What's the symbol mean?" James asked.

"It symbolises the Charmed Ones powers. See the three ovals that make it up." Chris traced the top one in a complete circle. "They symbolise their individual powers and then the whole thing is the Power of Three."

"I thought the book was older than them though?" James asked.

"It is. Melinda Warren was the one to prophesise the Charmed Ones whilst she was being burnt at the stake. The book was started after that and the family took this symbol to signify it." Chris explained.

"Show us something!" James twisted his head up from the book to stare at Ashley who was almost bouncing in her chair. He grinned at her before looking at Joshua for permission since he was in charge of his siblings.

"Go for it." Joshua told him. James concentrated for a moment a reached out to the six candles behind him on the mantle piece and was satisfied when they all lit at the same time.

"Joshua can do that!" Pennie, the female twin announced. James looked at the boy beside him with a raised eyebrow but the teen just shrugged.

"I have to look at them though." Joshua pointed out. "Try something else."

"Any suggestions, something the lot of you cant do?" James asked in the direction of Wyatt and the two girls. It was Leo that came to his rescue as he came to stand behind the empty sofa opposite him.

"Why don't you try to summon a ball of light in the centre of the room?" Leo suggested. "I could do it with orbs but only full Whitelighter can."

James thought about it for a few seconds before he nodded. He focused on the air just below the small chandelier and pushed his magic into the air. He focused on it collect before recalling the image of Fawkes. A glowing image of the bird appeared and although James' head never turned he made it fly across the room and close to the younger children who grinned with pleasure as it winged it's way passed them. James felt himself tiring and with a flick of his magic made the bird explode into flames like he had seen Fawkes do before letting the image fade.

James sagged into Chris' side and heard a gasp from the older man. "Are you ok?"

"That took more out of me than I thought." James admitted. Joshua leaned forward to pour James a cup of coke and he accepted it thankfully.

"More! Please James!" Ashley grinned at him widely.

"Not at the moment, Ash." Chris told her sternly. "That tired James out. Maybe later."

James nodded his agreement and she looked content enough as the front door closed and Piper walked into the room and both her and Leo took seats on the last sofa.

"Aunt Piper." Matt announced with a wide grin. "James made a fire bird and made it fly around the room."

Piper looked at James with a small smile. "And nearly exhausted himself out too." Leo added to his wife.

"Well, shall we sit down and explain everything we can then?" Piper smiled at the group. "But first can somebody please put out those candles." Chris flicked his hand and the candle snuffed out as if fingers had snuffed them. James glanced backwards at them and grinned. He'd never thought of telekinesis as being that malleable but if it would put out flames he could think of dozens of other uses for it. Some not as pleasant as others.

"We'd better continue with the introductions of their powers before James gets confused." Wyatt suggested and slapped his youngest sister's shoulder lightly as she muttered 'Again' under her breath.

"I know all of their names so what about powers." James told everyone and Joshua took the lead.

"As Pennie suggested, I'm what's called a Firestarter. I can call flames from anywhere I want. It's one of the most power of all the abilities you can have and it seems that's why I only have the one whereas most everyone has two. But I don't mind." Joshua reassured him. "I've orbed once before as well but only to dodge a fireball from a demon a couple of years ago. I didn't go anywhere but it was cool."

James grinned at him before Luke, the male twin, spoke up. "Pennie and me both can orb things like our mom can and I can Levitate slightly too." He told James with a small smile, he was obviously the quiet twin though no less energetic.

"I've got Empathy instead of Levitation and I've orbed home before when I was attacked by a Demon after school." Pennie added with a smug grin at her twin brother.

"We think that the four of them can orb if really scared because they are quarter Whitelighter and Luke and Pennie might be able to orb on command because of their orbing powers already." Piper explained to James at his wondering look.

Joshua took on the explanation for his youngest sister since she was too hyper to speak for her self and still have James understand her. "Ashley can Astral Project like Anna can but at the moment she can only do so with line of vision to where she appears. She's also got the same freezing power as Wyatt and Aunt Piper but she's only got lower demons and the like down so far. She'll probably get the exploding power when she's older too since she made a glass explode when Pennie stole her teddy a few years back." Joshua said this all very fast and James had to blink to catch up.

The last was Matt, the adopted son of his boss. James looked at the small black haired boy with a grin. "You'd be the Legilimens then?" He asked and got several strange looks. "That's what Wizards call someone who can enter somebody else's mind."

"Yes then." Piper explained. "Matt's what we call a telepath. He can search memories as well as read thoughts and place thoughts like speech. He can talk to anybody he knows as long as their not more than about a mile away from him."

"I couldn't get into your mind though." Matt said. "I still cant hear anything from you."

"In my world anybody can learn to become a Legilimens. It's one of the only skills that you don't need a wand for although most do. We have to have eye contact to perform it though. We also have a mental defence that we can build against intrusion which we call Occlumency. It's basically a wall around our thoughts." James explained to everyone but particularly to Matt. "Most don't bother with either ability since they are both extremely hard to learn. I was forced to build my own walls when I was with the Dementors since they feed from memories and weaken you."

"Is it permanent then?" Wyatt asked him.

James shook his head. "I've become accustomed to it since it doubles to keep emotions locked inside and calm somebody. I can drop them completely or lower them for just one person when ever I want." James explained before turning serious. "You should be careful around Wizards like me, Matt."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked with concern. "I haven't felt him try to get passed my shields today but I could when he focussed on me. I shoved him out then but I could have used the link he forged to trap him within part of my shields and then backtrack to his own mind and rummaged around as much as I wanted. If I had I would've learnt everything I wanted about your family before he could've chucked me out."

Piper looked at Matt with concern but the boy didn't seem to phased by this news though he probably didn't understand it. "Could all wizards with mental shields do that?" Chris asked.

"No." James assured them. "Most wouldn't even notice a direct intrusion though their shields would block it unless he tried to force his way through them. Only the most powerful Occlumens could trap him and follow him back. Two other wizards, perhaps a few more I don't know about. Unfortunately one would gladly search his memories for his own purposes and the other might trap his mind and possess his body."

Piper went pale and James took pity on him. "I can teach him to build his own shields which will prevent the backlash but they'd be weak until he's older and more powerful." James told them. "For now though as long as he stays with me if there are any Wizards about then I can use my own shields and power to cut the link and send the other Wizard running."

Piper grinned at him in gratitude. "Urm, I think we got sidetracked." Leo pointed out.

"Oh, right." Piper smiled and leaned over to muse up Matt's hair getting an irritated 'Hey' from the small boy. "He can also sense power and steal it with contact though it only works for smaller powers like his sisters at the moment. He cant handle the older ones powers yet."

"What about Paige?" James asked. "What can she do?"

"Paige can Telekinetically Orb like the twins can and also since she is half Whitelighter she can orb where she wants to go like Chris and Wyatt can." Piper explained. "We'll leave Phoebe's family alone for now. How about we take the children out to the park and you, Wyatt and Chris go through the book and they can explain things to you."

"Can I stay too?" Joshua asked as if the prospect of going to the park with six children younger than him was the worst thing on Earth. Piper gave him an amused look before nodding her agreement.

"No rhyming, Wyatt, Chris." Piper ordered. "Understand?"

"Yes mom." They both chorused before Chris turned to explain it to James. "We've got active powers like my levitation and Anna's Empathy and so on, but then we've got spells that we can cast. We don't actually have to rhyme them but we do anyway. They spells can backfire if you don't word them right and you have to be sure they're not for personal gain or something always goes wrong."

"Yeah. Wyatt once turned himself orange when he cast a spell to attract some girl a few years ago." Joshua whispered and James and Chris burst out laughing.

"I wish I could see that again!" Chris laughed.

James stopped laughing to think about it. "I could probably turn his orange." He said with all seriousness and the other two looked at him calmly before they all burst into laughter again.

The others all left and Wyatt, oblivious to their conversation at his expense went about pouring them all drinks and handing out chocolate biscuits as Chris planted the Book of Shadows squarely on James' lap. Wyatt settled onto the edge of the low table opposite James so that they could all see the book clearly.

James flicked through the book and listened to their descriptions of all of the Demons, monster, ghosts and other horrors within the book and whether they had killed them or whether they were still around. James reciprocated by comparing them to beings in his own world like Boggarts, Dementors, Ghosts and even Dragons which shocked the group. They spent until lunch pouring through the book and discussing their lives with magic before they reached a page near the back where handwriting he recognised as Chris' filled a few pages.

"Perhaps you should read that and see what could've happened." Wyatt suggested sadly. In the corner of the page rested a passport photo of a slightly altered Chris. His features were the same, from his hair to his darkened chin but James could see from the person eyes that they had their differences.

"My past counterpart write everything he knew of his bad future in there and spelled it so that our mom and Aunt couldn't read it until he left that time to return to his or until he died." Chris told him.

James scanned the text that described Wyatt as ruler of the world and evil to boot. How Leo had remained an Elder and neglected Chris. How Piper had died when Chris was fourteen and how Paige had died before Chris was even born. It was a shocking description of events that James shuddered to think could've happened. He could tell that remember this Chris saddened both the present day Chris and his older brother Wyatt but James figured that it served as a reminder to them that things were better and that they were all together.

James smiled at Chris with understanding. "I wonder if I would have done the same as him if the Wizards had spells to go back so far in time." James muttered but shrugged it off. He couldn't do anything about it and there was no telling what could be unwritten now if he tried to change anything.

"That's the problem with time travel." Wyatt pointed out as if he knew James' thoughts, "Who knows what the changes could be?"

"It's something we only do in real emergencies or when someone dies that shouldn't have." Chris told James.

They four chatted away about magic for a few more hours before they were interrupted by two small groups appearing out of thin air in a red glow. Phoebe's husband, Coup, appeared with his wife on his arm whilst their three children appeared with the eldest, Patience, in the centre and her two younger brothers on her arms.

James controlled his flinch at the sudden intrusion and even though he didn't notice the air in the room thickened with magic as he unconsciously delved into it. Chris placed his hand on James' to calm him and the air returned to normal. What none of them knew what that a symbol had been forming in front of James but since they were all focused at the new arrivals nobody noticed. Nor did they notice that it wasn't James' Wicca magic that he had delved into.

"That was strange." Phoebe shook her head at the strange feeling of the magic. "Was that you, James?"

"Yeah, sorry." James muttered. "I guess I'm not used to people appearing out of thin air lately and I've never seen you do that before."

"I cant, they get it from their father." Phoebe explained. "Though only Patience can do it so far with any reliability. Felix and Jason are learning fast though."

The three children grinned in agreement as they dived for the chocolate biscuits and fizzy drink. "Everyone is out at the park. We were just taking James through the Book of Shadows." Joshua told them. "He's a quick study."

"He did do a psychology degree in two years." Phoebe pointed out.

"How did your book signing go?" Chris asked when he realised the comment had embarrassed James.

"Oh, it was great!" Phoebe told them cheerfully as Coup rolled his eyes.

"Boring!" Whispered the fifteen year old Felix to Wyatt making the four young men laugh.

"What's the book about?" James asked to avoid an argument. He knew that Phoebe wrote an advice column in a local paper and the occasional national paper as well as the odd talk show. A book she wrote could be interesting.

"It's an advice book for families with trouble with their children." Phoebe explained as she and Coup took the left sofa and their children took the right one. Wyatt retreated to kitchen to make some tea for Phoebe and her husband.

"Can I get a copy of that?" James asked with a thoughtful look. "You never know in my job when something like that could be useful."

"Sure thing, James!" Phoebe said with a happy grin.

Chris took control of the proper introductions so that James could learn their magic before the others got back. "Phoebe can Levitate, she gets premonitions about innocents and families and she's an Empath and can use that power to attack an enemy's mind to kill them or put them in a coma."

James raised an eyebrow at her but asked the question anyway. "Can you feel anything from me?"

"No actually, you're a blank." Phoebe muttered.

"You have gotta teach me how to do those shields!" Chris muttered in James' ear. James looked at him before nodding his agreement. "Uncle Coup is actually a Cupid. That's where some of their children's powers come from."

"You make people fall in love?" James asked shocked.

"Well not really." Coup laughed at his expression. "I help people recognise that their in love, or could be in love."

James gave a sigh of relief and a small grin at the older man and let Chris continue the explanations. "Patience can Disillusion herself, but she's getting better at it so she'll probably manage complete invisibility in a few years. She can also shapeshift."

"Into what?" James asked the sixteen year old.

"At the moment I can do most inanimate objects that don't have any internal parts and are about my size." She admitted. "Supposedly I should be able to do animals too when my powers are fully grown. Mom said you can turn into a Panther, is that true?"

James smiled at her before standing up. Chris let go of his hand and James was shocked that the man was still holding it when he hadn't even realised it. He smoothly changed shape and in a second collapsed onto his front paws with a soft thump. He grinned like only a Panther can to show all of his teeth.

He felt a hand scratching behind his right ear and turned his large head to face Chris who had an admiring grin on his face. James couldn't help the purr from escaping his throat which made everyone in the room laugh. James twisted his head further towards Chris and snapped his jaws together just short of the older man's hand making him snap it back to himself. James pushed off from his front paws and shifted back to his normal form and took his seat again.

"Cool." Was all Patience said.

"Moving on." Chris grunted as he protected his hand against his chest with a small glare at James. James reached over and grabbed the hand and held onto it. He noticed Coup's small smile and glared at him good naturedly. "Felix can sense what people greatest desire is just like his dad and can slow down time to an almost stand still tough he's getting better at that. It's almost like Piper and Wyatt's freezing power but it effects everything unless he pulls them out of it."

James nodded at the fifteen year old to show he understood and then turned to Jason, the youngest. He felt a brush against his shields and grabbed hold and tugged on the link and saw the young teen's eyes widen.

"Another Telepath?" James asked.

"Yes Sir." Jason muttered thinking he was in trouble. "But I'm not as good as Matt. I cant search for memories only speak to people. That's what I was just trying to do. Sorry."

"No need to apologise. I'll have to teach you to block what I just did to you in case you meet another Wizard like me." James told him before looking at his parents. "I'll explain later but it's important he learns it as soon as possible."

They nodded but were obviously slightly worried. "How about you boys go into town for a while?" Phoebe offered to the four older men before turning to her children. "We'll stay here and wait for the others to come back. Piper said something about a meal later so make sure you're back by five."

XOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	14. Tome of Runes

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 14; Tome of Runes

**P3**

James had spent the rest of the afternoon with Chris, Wyatt and Joshua to find out everything he could about them. Joshua took after Wyatt in their hyperactive moods and contrasted with Chris who was much more direct in everything he did. Chris never teased about things whereas Joshua and Wyatt insisted on making a joke about everything. James could see the similarities between the text in the Book of Shadows written by the future Chris who died and that of this one. James had to wonder if that was just coincidence or whether it was some higher plan that Chris was like he was.

To James this was the perfect place for him, they didn't care what he used to be nor what the Wizards thought of him. They'd protect him just like he'd protect them even though they'd only known about each others magic in the last two days.

James had been worried ever since he'd been tortured by the campfire by Death Eaters that finding out about his history would push Chris and him apart but if anything it was making them closer. From what he had heard in the last day and a half the Halliwell's were in constant worry over being exposed. Every potential partner had to be checked out to see if they were evil before anything could be done and even if they were human they constantly worried about what would happen if they were discovered. With James there was no concern over that, James was just as magical as them, if not more so since even though he hadn't grown up with it he had lived in a magical world that didn't associate with Muggles, or what Chris called Mortals.

They had stayed at the Manor for the evening meal which turned into a complete riot with nine adults and ten children trying to eat at the same time. Piper ended up setting a table in the back garden and everyone just grabbed a plate of food and sat on the grass in the early evening sun. Paige told him everything about the orphanage children and James was glad that they were getting all the attention they needed with him out of work.

After the meal, Chris, Wyatt, Leo, Henry and Coup took him to P3 for the evening to celebrate his twenty-first birthday much to James' shock since it was his first birthday. When James told them this Chris vowed that it wouldn't be his last. They all had a drink but Chris and James refused to drink too much, much to Wyatt's distaste since he seemed to enjoy downing one drink after another and Coup couldn't drink at all.

They reappeared at the Manor at half past midnight to find Piper sitting at her ease with the TV on. She jumped violently and nearly dropped her mug when James apparated into the room with a loud crack, a side effect of transporting himself as well as Wyatt who was luckily too drunk to notice the horrible feeling of side-along apparition.

Coup had disappeared straight to drop Henry home before returning home himself and Chris orbed in with his father who was more than a little tipsy. Piper chuckled at her eldest son as James less than gently deposited him on the sofa.

"He's not as light as he looks." James raised an eyebrow at the man strewn out of the cushions.

"He looks light?" Chris chuckled.

"I was being polite." James said even as his mother slapped him on the arm and told him to be polite.

"You didn't drink much then?" Piper asked.

"He is twenty-one now mum!" Chris mistook her curiousness for seriousness.

"I don't drink that much, I never got into it when I was at Hogwarts and there wasn't really an opportunity after that." James told her with a small nod to show that at least he knew what she meant. Chris had the decency to look ashamed at accusing his mother but she just smiled it off.

"Chris, could you drop your brother off somewhere other than my living room before you go home." Piper asked him before she struggled to get her husband up the stairs. Chris grabbed his older brothers arm before turning to say goodnight to Chris.

James interrupted him though. "Um…" He stuttered, "If you're not too tired could you come to my flat after you drop Wyatt off?"

James was worried that Chris was going to say no but was pleased when he nodded with a big grin on his face. Chris flicked his hair out of his eyes before he and his brother burst into blue orbs. James grinned slightly before flicking off the rooms light before disapparating with a small pop.

He reappeared in his flats front room and noticed that the door to the second bedroom was closed meaning that either Sam or Jackie were here. He glanced around the room and noticed that Sam's brown jacket was slung carelessly over the back of the sofa. Since Sam's family lived on the outskirts of town it was quite common to see him crashing at James' flat to avoid the long journey back after he'd been drinking.

James crept into the room and sure enough his best friend was crashed out on one of the two beds face down and fully clothed. James slipped on one of the desk lamps and started to make the man more comfortable. First he slipped of Sam's shoes, then socks followed by his jeans and jumper before slipping the thin blanket over him.

Sam muttered something incoherent before snuggling down into the pillow. James had to chuckle as he shut the curtains and flipped off the lamp and left the room. To his surprise Chris was already waiting for him. James put a finger to his lips whilst gesturing back into the second bedroom and then led the silent Chris into his own room, shutting the door behind him.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Chris asked as soon as the door was closed an the light on.

"Basically, us?" James said rather bluntly.

"As in?" Chris asked slowly.

"Is there an us?" James asked and kept hold of Chris' eyes.

"I thought there was," Chris stuttered. "I mean I hope there is. Is there?"

"Chris, I'd like nothing more than for their to be an us." James smiled slightly. "But you have to be sure. I come with a past and no matter how far I run it'll always catch up to me. Look what happened in Seattle."

"That was our fault, we dropped the protection spell." Chris sat heavily on the edge of the spare bed. "I don't care about any of your past. I want to help you and I don't care what happens as long as there is a chance of there being an us."

James smiled and knew that his eyes showed his happiness. "You should know that people that have lives like mine don't get off scot-free in the mental department." James told him seriously though there was a slight bit of humour.

"I like you, quirks and all." Chris grinned. "Besides, I remember encountering just that one Dementor on Alcatraz. I don't think I'd be sane either if I'd spent a whole six months with hundred of them."

"Thanks!" James laughed sarcastically and watched as Chris went red.

"You know what I meant!" Chris groaned before reaching behind him and grabbing one of the pillows before launching it across the room at James. James' hand came up to block it but they were both shocked when it reversed its course and hit a shocked Chris in the face.

"Your getting better at that." Chris pointed out before standing from the bed. What neither of them knew was that James' Wizarding magic had yet again tried to come to the forefront but was beaten aside by his Wicca powers. Also neither saw the small golden light that flickered in between James' palm and the pillow. Something was happening and neither of them knew it. "I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"How about meeting me for lunch tomorrow?" James asked shyly.

"You mean a lunch date?" Chris chirped up happily whilst scratching his chin with his finger tips.

James went slightly red but nodded. "I'm going back to work tomorrow to sort through everything. Meet me there at one?"

"Sure thing." Chris closed the gap between them and after the briefest pause their lips met in a short kiss. He pulled back after only a second and they looked into each others faces. James gave him a grateful smile and watched as Chris burst into orbs and vanished through the closed window.

XOXOXOXOXOX

**A week later**

James had a good time with Chris the next day. They went to a small café near to social services and chatted about normal things like Chris' Chemistry degree which he'd be returning to in just two weeks. He hoped to be able to use it to mix Mortal chemistry with Wicca potions to make them more powerful and easier to make. James offered everything he knew about Potions to help since he knew that Wizarding Potions were quite close to Muggle Chemistry.

James also spent most of the week going around the local orphanages meeting with the children from the Camp who were all settling in well if not a tad worried about their new surroundings. He also took the opportunity to become acquainted with the staff of those orphanages and to subtly check them out as well. He met with the older children under their care and by the end of the week was happy that Golden Marina Orphanage was a one of a kind, at least in this city.

Paige had taken him off his normal schedule, which would be talking to all of the children that were processed through the centre like he had with Josh McKay, to give him time to sort through the paper work that had come with relocating so many children. As such he had spent most of the week with Paige and Kevin, newly made his personal assistant and also San Francisco's newest Social Worker which Kevin was ecstatic about.

He went out with Chris twice more in that time and that night would be his official third evening date. Chris had decided that they would go to P3 and had the assurances from the majority of his family that they would leave well enough alone when it came to spontaneous visits. James knew that what Chris had actually forced from his relatives was that if a demon came visiting they'd only call on Chris if they absolutely needed him.

James apparated into Halliwell Manor where Chris had spent the last day of his summer holidays helping his two younger sisters finish their holiday homework. He found Leo sitting on the sofa watching the weather report.

"Have you seen this yet, James?" Leo asked him without really looking at him.

"Is Chris around?" James asked him without answering.

"He told me to tell you to sit down and wait for him." Leo told him as he turned to look at him. "And I'm telling you to relax, its only a date!"

James looked at him in shock before flopping lightly onto the sofa. "I haven't had time to watch the new since I finished work." James admitted answering Leo's first question.

"There's bad weather across the whole western sea board." Leo told him as he dropped the volume on the TV. "Sprung up out of nowhere really. There's been six car accidents on roads into San Francisco where cars have slipped on ice patches."

"Ice patches!?" James spun to look at the screen but it had moved on to reporting something about bed shortages in hospitals. "How can roads ice up in the middle of summer? Magic?"

Leo chuckled taking it as a joke but then sobered as he saw James' look. "You're serious?"

"I don't know about the bad weather." James sighed. "That would take a hell of a lot of Wizards to pull off but as for ice on the roads…that's an easy spell."

"And you think they'd do that?" Leo asked "Why?"

"I have no idea, it could me Muggle Baiting." James told him.

"What's Muggle Baiting?" Chris' voices came from the doorway.

"Muggle's are Mortals." James clarified. "And Muggle Baiting is basically using magic to make fools of muggles. It's heavily fined by the Ministry of Magic."

"So why are you talking about it?" Chris asked, having obviously not been in the room for that part of the conversation.

"The ice on the roads could be some Wizards playing tricks." James told him with a small shrug. "Only an idea though."

"Wouldn't they be worried about exposure?" Chris asked.

"Like I said, it was only a guess." James said but seeing Chris' adamant look he continued. "Exposure was never an issue with the Wizarding World. Most fully trained mediocre Wizards can erase the last hour or so from a Mortals mind and anyone with any proper training in it can erase specific images. If a Mortal ever found out about magic the memories would just be removed from their mind. It wouldn't matter how long ago it occurred. It's common with Death Eater raids on entire towns."

Chris nodded briefly before grabbing James' hand and pulling him up. "Come on, lets go."

"Are you still coming here tomorrow to help me take down that seat in the back garden?" Leo asked him son.

"Yeah yeah." Chris mumbled before dragging James to his car in front of the house and from there on to P3.

James had one of the best nights of his life with Chris that night. He didn't have to worry about being found and even though the weather was steadily getting worse outside it never got bad enough to disrupt their evening. They planed to stay in P3 for most of the evening before either going back to Chris' flat or trying to meet up with Sam and Jackie at another club. They would've gone alone by Chris was smart enough to realise that James wouldn't like the crowds that much and Sam and Jackie could help even the odds so to speak.

They didn't drink at P3 knowing that whatever happened between them that night had to happen without any loosening their inhibitions and luckily neither of them really drunk alcohol that much unless they were just with friends but they did have a few sodas that Chris managed to get free of charge from the bar man since his mother did own the club and they also spent a couple of hours dancing together on the floor before they stumbled out of the club with grins on their faces.

On the way back to Chris' car, which was sitting down the side alley of the club in Piper's personal space, everything began to go wrong. The weather was bad enough already and the chill that crept down James' spin was enough to jolt him into total awareness. He would always remember that chill that preceded his worst nightmare.

He was about to tell Chris to run for it when his date slipped and only just caught himself. "Ice?!" Chris cried looking at the ground before looking back up at James who could feet that his face was bloodless.

"Chris, get out of here!" James cried and fruitlessly tried to apparate them both back to the Manor but his head throbbed as the Dementors effect on his mind started. Before Chris could think to orb them out the lights were blotted out and the alley fell into darkness. A fog seemed to meet their faces as the air chilled. "No!" James almost wept as he fell to his knees. Already his memories were starting to creep up onto him.

Chris crouched beside him and fumbled for the back of James' neck. "What's happening?"

"Dementors!" James gasped as frost filled his lungs. "They're not here for you, get out now." It was too late though, by the time Chris tried to orb the Dementors turned their attention onto him and he went to his knees as his memories hit him like a sledge hammer. James knew that Chris could no longer orb. His orbing power needed love and contentedness to work and with a Dementor so close there was nothing he could do.

James called up his Wicca powers and called fire to burn the pile of cardboard boxes that he had only just stepped around. The alley filled with a red and orange glow but the flames struggled against the frost and icy winds. The two Dementors stood much closer than James had thought and even though James' mental shields protected him from some of the onslaught, Chris had no such defence and James could only hope that Chris had had a better life than he. James tried to push Chris backwards but one of the Dementors grabbed his jacket and wrenched him forwards away from James.

It pulled him to his feet and seemed to sniff at him before he threw him backwards against the wall. James heard the crack as Chris' shoulder slammed roughly into the brickwork and found himself on his feet regardless of the two Dementors so close to him.

"Chris!" He yelled. He saw Chris roll over with a groan and saw his eyes flicker open in the firelight. James spun on the Dementors as he tried to pull up a happy memory. None of the ones he had used to use were of any use to him now, every time he thought of one it was tainted by his betrayal and Azkaban. He struggled to find one without a thought as to his lack of wand even as he turned and came face to shadows face with the nearest Dementor.

He staggered backwards as a wave of sheer horror pushed everything else out of his mind. It caught him roughly with it's bony hand and yanked him forwards.

"_We never forget a mind." _It rasped and James couldn't even process the fact it could speak to him. "_You cant run from us. We find you. We eat."_

It pulled back its hood and James found himself staring into its rotten eyes and decayed flesh for a second time in his life. He wrenched himself backwards and in that split second of clarity found his happy memory. Him and Chris on a reservoir's beach and their first kiss and that moment that James was perfectly happy with his life.

He threw out his hand and without even thinking of the Patronus Charm a white emblem appeared in front of his palm. In that split second it seemed to burn into his mind, it was complicated but it was also simple to him. Even as James studied it he felt it tapping into his Wizarding magic as it grew to be too bright to look at. It burst from his hand only a second after it began and a white wave of happiness radiated out from him and struck the two Dementors. They screamed out for only an instant before there tattered robes crumpled in on themselves and fluttered to the ground.

James sagged to his knees in shock. He didn't know whether he had killed them or just banished them but he didn't really care. He'd just used Wizarding Magic and he'd done it without a wand.

As he felt the happiness drain away he started to realised that his wrist was burning. He lifted his left hand and stared in bewilderment as the same rune that had appeared in white before him was slowly burning itself into the skin on the outer side of his left wrist. He had to grit his teeth as the burning got worse but after only a few seconds it dulled to a gentle throb and the once red lines started to blacken even if the skin around the rune was still red and sore to the touch.

James crawled over to Chris and collapsed beside him as he struggled to get his emotions and memories under control. He knew he only had moments to get Chris to safety before his mental shields came crashing down, they couldn't be in the middle of the city with Chris' shoulder with god knows what sort of damage inside.

"Chris?" James asked. "Are you ok?"

"What did you do? I've never seen that done before?" Chris asked as he tried to sit up.

"I don't know. Can you orb?" James asked but after a moment of trying Chris just shock his head. Obviously his memories and emotions were still all over the place. James nodded before trying to get some semblance of control over himself. He pushed everything aside and felt tears on his cheeks as flashes of his trial came unbidden to his waking eyes. He grabbed Chris hand and Apparated with a crack.

XOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

When James arrived with another loud crack in the middle of the downstairs living room he felt every last ounce of strength flee from his body. His mental walls collapsed and he sagged.

_Harry Potter curled into the corner of his cell as the Minister of Magic stood calmly on front of the cell. Fudge looked him over arrogantly. "Oh, how the mighty fall. You should remember one thing, nobody can go against me. Not even Voldemort. He hasn't gotten to me yet but I see he got to you. Now if you don't mind I have to go celebrate the fall of the Boy-Who-Lived." The man turned to walk away before turning his head. "One last thing, I thought I should warn you that Ronald Weasley and some of the other students are petitioning to have you five year probation removed. They seem to want you dead now. Of course I'd rather see you suffer."_

James felt arms go around him and lower him on the sofa in the Halliwell's front room.

"_I'm so sorry, Harry." The voice of Charlie Weasley distracted him from his memories. He looked up at Charlie and Bill Weasley. "Remus died yesterday. He couldn't take the loss anymore."_

_A single tear crept from one of Harry's eyes and fell to the floor of his five by five foot cell. His home for the last three months_

"Mum! Dad!" James heard Chris yell as his eyes threatened to shut. He struggled with his mental barriers but they slipped away every time he tried.

"_Let's see just how gullible your fans really are shall we, Potter_?" _Voldemort sneered at him._

He felt warm hands on the sides of his face so different to Chris' ice cold ones holding his arms. "James, honey?" Piper asked him. "Are you ok?"

"_Harry James Potter, you are found guilty of the brutal murders of your relatives." The voice echoed around the large meeting hall_.

James snapped his eyes fully open and was met by the disgusted face of Ron Weasley in front of him. He stared around the living room and saw Ron's parents looking furious at him even as Mrs. Weasley grasped his face. Hermione sobbed in the doorway being held by Charlie Weasley. The homey room seemed to flicker into that of a cold stone chamber before it returned.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't me!" James gasped as tears spilt down his cheeks and over Mrs. Weasley's hands. He tried to pull himself back away from her and Ron's clutching hands but he couldn't back away any further. "I didn't do. Please don't leave me there. Don't send me back again."

"James!" Ron cried and James saw a single tear fall from one of his friends eyes. His black hair fell near to those eyes and James realised with a shock that he wasn't looking at Ron anymore but Chris.

"Come back to us, honey. You're not there anymore." Piper's hands stroked his cheeks soothingly where Mrs. Weasley's had just grasped him. As he looked Mr. Weasley became a worried looking Leo and Hermione and Charlie became Chris' two younger sisters looking scared in the doorway.

"Oh god!" James wept as he slumped forwards. He yanked his mental shields up again and felt his head fall into the base of Chris' neck as his arms went around him. He felt Piper stroking a hand up and down his back as Leo ushered Prue and Anna from the room.

"What happened, Chris?" Piper asked her son as James steadied his breathing to listen and cast half a mind to checking his mental barriers for weaknesses.

"We were attacked by two Dementors in the alley next to P3, I couldn't orb out and James couldn't apparate." Chris explained. "All I could think of was all the demon attacks and that time when we though Anna was dead."

James glanced up, temporarily forgetting about his shields. Piper noticed his look so explained. "Anna was kidnapped by a mortal out of school when she was eight. He had her locked in a basement for four days before we found her." She explained. "None of our scrying would work though because his basement was under a graveyard which we cant find things in."

James nodded to show he understood and Chris continued. "One of the Dementors grabbed me before I could recover and smelled me before throwing me into the wall."

"Your shoulder!" James jerked up with a frown. Chris frowned before grabbing his left shoulder in his hand. "I heard that crack! How can it be fine?"

"I don't know. Maybe your spell? I felt warm and happy." Chris suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked. "James? You did a spell?"

"When James was thrown into the wall the Dementor turned on me again. It grabbed me and smelled me and told me it never forgot a mind. It tried to eat my soul but I called up a happy memory and before I knew it my Wizard's magic killed them." James told him. "I don't know how. It's not supposed to be possible to cast Wizards spell without a focus."

"What about that symbol?" Chris asked.

"I think it was a Rune. It must have focused my magic." James suggested. "Whatever it was, it's burned into my wrist."

Piper gently grabbed his wrist. "Chris, can you heal this?"

Chris laid a hand over the Rune and the burnt skin and his hand glowed golden and James felt warmth radiate up his arm and couldn't help but grin. When Chris removed his hand his skin had returned to what it was however a black tattoo remained inked into his wrist. The same Rune that had destroyed two Dementors.

"Did you say that the Wizards could track you if you focused your magic?" Piper asked changing the subject from James' new tattoo to more practical matters.

"I think they need a wand to track it." James told her. "I think I'm safe, they'd have shown up in seconds otherwise."

Chris nodded his agreement, obviously remembering the motel in Seattle. "I think that Rune did more than destroy them." Chris said as he rolled his shoulder. "I think it healed my shoulder too."

James nodded before going slightly red. Piper saw this and grinned rather maliciously. "What is it, James?"

"Well I think what I did was basically a Patronus Charm. It's a Wizarding spell that uses a happy memory to repel Dementors and prevent them from feeding off of you. It's hard to learn because it's so hard to remember happiness whilst reliving your worse memories and nightmares." James explained. "I thought of Chris and me before it happened and I think it must have channelled the magic to Chris to heal him as well as destroy them."

"So it's a healing Rune?" Piper asked.

"I don't know. The Patronus is a protective spell." James pointed out, "Perhaps it was a bit of both."

"Well we cant do anything else tonight." Piper told them. "You and Chris stay together tonight in case another one of those things appears."

"Yes, mum."

"Yes, Piper." Chris and James said at the same time.

"And Chris, no funny business. James has been through enough tonight." Piper glared lightly at her son. "And so have you." She said softening. She gave Chris a quick hug before doing the same to James.

XOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day; Halliwell Manor**

James and Chris stayed at James' flat that night and after a brief conversation with Sam, who had crashed there again that night, they left to walk to P3 to pick up Chris' car, abandoned and forgotten there in the confusion of the night before. They drove to the Halliwell Manor and arrived whilst Piper, Leo, Prue and Anna were sitting down for breakfast. Wyatt joined them as well since it was a Saturday and he didn't have to be at the hospital.

James waved off the offer of food with the excuse that he was still recovering from the night before but Chris stole his youngest sisters seat at the dining room table to eat and fend off the fourteen year old girl as she tried to steal it back. In the end Chris just grabbed her and hoisted her onto his lap where she squirmed for a while before settling down to stealing some of Chris' new breakfast.

James just laughed at the scene. "Phoebe and Paige are coming over soon to discuss yesterday and to decide what's to be done about it." Piper told them all. "Henry is coming to since he'd have an idea of what the Mortals think of all this."

"What about Uncle Coup and the others?" Chris asked.

"He's coming here to pick up Prue and Anna and then going into town for the morning." Piper explained.

"I don't think that's a good idea." James stepped forward and placed his hands lightly on Chris. Chris frowned up at him before his eyes widened as he realised the problem. "The bad weather is still here and that means that the Dementors are still roaming the area."

Chris went pale, obviously remembering what he had felt last night. Piper frowned. "You think they'd be at risk?"

"I think everyone on the west coast is at risk." James sighed. "Whoever sent them, and I believe it was the Ministry, can only keep them under a leesh for so long. Eventually they'll get hungry enough to feed off of the Mortals and even take a soul from an innocent bystander."

"How do you know that?" Wyatt asked, more curious than accusatory.

"When I was in my third year, my Godfather escaped Azkaban the same way I did. The Wizarding world thought he'd try to get revenge on me for his supposed masters fall." James explained. "They sent the Dementors to guard the school grounds. They searched the train to the school on the first day and nearly killed me when they came into our compartment."

"Do they have a worse effect on you than others?" Leo asked.

"I might not remember my mothers murder consciously but the memories still there. I used to hear her scream as she died every time one was near and then I'd pass out." James explained with a pained look. "During the year they got restless and started going against their orders. They came into the middle of a school tournament whilst the crowds were packed and I fell unconscious and fell from two hundred feet. The headmaster caught me but he was furious with them."

James glanced at the two girls but knew that if they faced the Dementors that they'd have to know all of this. "They were always attracted to me because of the memories they could suck from me to feed themselves. Near the end of the year they finally snapped and whilst trying to capture my Godfather they tried to suck my own soul out as well."

"What happens to you if your soul is sucked out?" Anna asked.

James was torn between making something up and telling her the truth, he looked up at Piper with a desperate look but received a nod as permission to tell the truth. "You body still operates but it's mindless. Your soul is trapped within the Dementor for as long as the creature lives, never being able to move on and forced to take part in all the bad memories it pulls from its victims." James sighed. "That's why there was always an uproar when they attacked innocent people. The Wizards knew of no way to kill them. Feeding their criminals to them was the only way to keep them contained and our spells could only force them away."

"But we killed that one on Alcatraz and you killed two yesterday." Wyatt pointed out.

"And as to my knowledge they would be the only three killed in written history." James told him sternly. "And not to be horrible to Piper but the one she killed was far weaker than the ones I faced last night. She destroyed it because of good circumstances. It had been weakened by a hundred years of being buried with no food source and she heightened her own magic with her emotions."

Piper looked at him carefully but nodded to show that she agreed. James met Wyatt's eyes and continued to drill it into the older man. "The ones here now are the ones that guarded my prison. They are both older and more powerful than the ones already here. If you meet them you orb out before they get into you head because after that you'll be stuck with them and if they smell me on you then they wont hesitate to drain you regardless of their orders."

Piper stood to clear the table and James stood moved to help her carry the plates into the kitchen. He heard them moving around in the other room and sighed. "I'm sorry to say all of that in front of Prue and Anna." James told Piper quietly.

"Oh, don't worry about that, James." Piper smiled at him. "Prue and Anna aren't left out of anything we do. It's not like we can keep Demons from them when they can appear anywhere."

"Don't you have protection against Shimmering?" She looked at him blankly. "Wards?"

"Protection spells are very risky. They tend to backfire in the worst possible ways." Piper told him.

"Hogwarts was warded to make Apparating impossible. There are wards against most types of travel. I learnt how to cast them all after I was kidnapped via portkey." James explained. "They're an object charmed to transport a person to a set location."

"Do you think you could manage it?" Piper asked with a glint in her eye.

"It might be easier to cast a ward against all magical transport and then key it to allow orbing and that thing that Phoebe's family does." James told her. "It has it's drawbacks though."

"What are they?" Piper said as she began washing the plates. James started to clear the remains of the food into the bin.

"I'd be able to do it without a wand but it'll be slow and rather draining. The main problem is that the ward I know would be visible to everyone, including the Wizards." James sighed. "In an area like this they'd want to know where you got them from."

"Is there a way to hide them?" Piper asked.

"I'd have to get a book on warding." James sighed. "But I have no way to do that at the moment without going to Diagon Alley. The Wizards shopping street in London."

"You're not going anywhere near there!" Piper told him which made him smile slightly.

"I'll find a way to ward the manor though." James told her. "It's the least I can do."

They walked back into the front room and James tensed as he saw the crowd there. Not only was Chris' family there but Paige, Henry, their five children, Phoebe, Coup and their three children. Chris separated himself from Matt, Jason, Felix and Luke, the four youngest boys and came over as he noticed how pale James had become. Chris circled around behind him before hugging James from behind.

"You don't have to worry, James." Chris whispered into his ear. "You know everyone here and they wont crowd you."

"What do you mean?" James twisted his head even as he leaned back so his head settled on Chris' shoulder.

"Aunt Paige and Aunt Phoebe warned them so not all tackle you at the same time like they normally do around people Wyatt, Joshua and Prue bring home." Chris explained.

"I'll be fine once I know them all." James rubbed at his head. "My shields are still getting used to so many Empaths and Telepaths though."

Chris chuckled quietly before he sat down on the armrest of one of the sofas and pulled James down onto the cushion. James sighed happily and leant sideways and put his head against Chris' chest as he put his arms around James' shoulder loosely.

James listened as Paige and Phoebe were told about the Dementors and then about James' Rune. James showed them the rune and they were shocked when Paige grinned at him. "I think I've seen that type of Rune before."

"Where?" Chris perked up slightly.

"In a book at Magic School the last time I was asked to help teach." Paige told them.

"You mean the Magic School you wrote about in the Book of Shadows?" James asked.

"That's the one." Phoebe smiled.

"Can we get it?" James spoke up curiously.

"Paige, how about you take Chris, Wyatt and James to Magic school?" Piper asked. "I'll decide something to do here in the meantime."

"Sure thing." Paige smiled as she stood from her place opposite James. "Chris can you take James? We'll meet in the Library."

Before James could react he found himself standing in a large room. A few children wandered around the room from an eight year old sitting alone on a sofa reading a book on her lap to three sixteen year olds sitting at a table pouring through books and taking notes.

"Welcome to Magic School." Paige announced. "This is the library. Why don't you three look around for anything useful but remember we're here to look for things to help James use his magic. The Rune book was a black leather book about two inches thick with a Rune on the front. I'm going to find Patricia."

"Who's Patricia?" James asked as he and Chris moved to the very right end of the horseshoe of bookcases whilst Wyatt grudgingly started at the very left.

"She's the librarian here, she'll be able to narrow our search." Chris explained whilst reading the spines of the books. James frowned at some of the books but breezed passed them as useless to him. Most of these were fiction, histories, information on Demons and Warlocks as well as a few spell books that Chris told him didn't come near to the Book of Shadows.

James and Chris managed to search two bookcases out of twenty whilst Wyatt had done one on the other end of the rows before Paige returned with an elderly lady in tow. "James Evans this is Patricia, Magic School's librarian."

"You'd be the one looking for the Tome of Runes?" James nodded at her blunt question. "It's locked in my office."

"Why is it there?" Paige asked, only the most dangerous books were locked in there.

"Somebody tried to summon it from outside of Magic school last night." She told them all. "Of course it failed but I've locked it in my magic proof safe."

"What time was that?" Chris asked with a curious frown.

"About half eleven." Patricia told them.

"The same time you summoned that Rune." Chris turned on James.

"What Rune?" Patricia asked. For the second time that day James twisted his exposed wrist to show somebody his tattoo. "Curious."

"Can you get the book?" Paige asked.

"Sure, give me a moment." Patricia swept out of the room and James returned to scanning the shelves. He hadn't found anything of interest before Patricia walked back in with a book wrapped in a brown cotton cloth. James turned to look at her and gasped as his tattoo burned. Before anyone could ask him about his reaction Patricia almost screamed as the Tome vanished from her hands and reappeared hovering in front of James.

"Well, that's new." James muttered. The Rune on the black leather cover glowed with fire and altered its shape to match that of his tattoo.

"According to my ledgers that book was left to Magic School after a Rune wielder, it's Master, died in the early 1800's." Patricia told them. "The Librarian at the time warned that the book wouldn't allow anyone to read it unless it was bonded to somebody and that person gave permission."

"So it sensed you using that Rune last night and bonded with you?" Chris suggested.

"Well, its yours now." Patricia told them. "The Headmistress and I discussed it last night and decided that if we found its master we'd hand it over as long as they were Good. If the Charmed Ones and their children are helping you then you're obviously just such a person. Just let me know if you need anything else."

"Why don't you see if you can find that Rune of yours?" Chris suggested. "We'll have a search and see if we can find anything else.

James nodded before settling himself cross-legged on a desk and open the book to the front page.

"_If you are reading this introduction then my tome, my legacy, has passed itself on to you. I am a Rune Master but you do not require my name to learn the contents of this book. This tome has a mind of its own, it is made of layers upon layers of runic spells that have given it certain natural abilities. It would already have belied its first ability to you, that of travel. It can transport itself to it's master from anywhere on Earth though some places, like Magic School, where this tome will automatically go if I pass on, will prevent its travel out but not in._

"_The Tome has two main methods of reading, the first is through the contents page where you can search the book manually to find what is needed, however the second is for those with good minds where you can place your hands on the centre pages and think of what you need and if this Tome has an answer for you if will display it for you._

"_Use this Tome wisely, the magic within is dangerous and easily used for both Good and Evil. Never let this fall into the hands of Evil."_

The introduction wasn't signed but James still smiled at the less than professional writing. He hoped that the rest of the book was just as blunt and to the point. He opened the book to the centre pages which were blank and placed his hands on the pages. He focused on the symbol tattooed onto his wrist and when he opened his eyes he found writing being inked across the page by an unseen hand just like it had with Tom Riddle's diary. As the ink spread he wondered to himself how much of himself the Rune Master had put into this Tome. _His _Tome.

James stared at the double page. On the top left sat a drawing of his tattoo, it held exactly the same simplicity and complicatedness as the one he had thrown from his path yesterday and James love it as if it had been a friend to him all of these years. He traced the symbol with his finger and after ten seconds he had done the whole thing. It glowed red with a white fire before fading. Below it was a description.

"_This symbol means everything that you are. It is your Base Rune, the first Rune you drew and imbued with your magic. It is made of two separate Runes melded together but drawn at the same time. The first of the two Runes is a protection Rune drawn from feelings of happiness, alone it would create a protective mental shield that would protect you from your worse memories or sadness. Rune Masters can use this Rune to ward off Lethifolds and Dementors."_

James was shocked that this book spoke of creatures known only to the Wizarding World but then he remembered that Runic Magic used his Wizarding Magic and therefore the Rune Master must have been a Wizard rather than a Wicca Witch like James had assumed. James had to wonder why a Wizard would know of Magic School, let alone bequeath the school with his legacy. He read on.

"_The second Rune is a physical shield fuelled by protectiveness for somebody you care about. It is a powerful shield which draws is strength directly from the amount you care for the person. For example, it would be very powerful when protecting a loved one but useless if you want to protect somebody you despise. This shield does not protect from magical attacks though it will protect from elemental attacks such as fire even when given life from magic."_

The writing changed slightly then and James realised as he read that it was like a personal note. "_The combination of the two is unique to you and is imprinted in your core just as every person, magical or not, has one in their core though only a Rune Master can read them. From your memories of the event where you used your personal Rune it is assumed that the combined force of the two Runes along with the feelings of protectiveness for the Witch destroyed the Dementors with a combination of the Patronus like shield and the physical structure it was given from the second Rune which turned two defensive shields into an offensive weapon when needed."_

James sighed and flipped to the front of the book and the contents. He searched the contents and noticed that there were Rune sequences for almost any circumstance. He turned to the first page of the main book with the heading; 'Using Runes.'

"_Runes have a basis in all magic, all spells, wards and even the magical beings themselves have Runes at their heart. Wizarding spells use Runes even unknowingly to their casters whilst most spells and wards can be altered by tampering with the Runes at their core. Rune Masters are considered among the most powerful of Magic users feared by all others. Their one weakness was and will always be the slow forming nature of their spells. Some simple Runes can take up to two seconds to draw, power and cast but their effects are easily countered. More powerful offensive spells can take ten or more seconds to cast and sometimes even a few minutes making their caster vulnerable to outside attack. Most Rune Master stuck to wards and traps and attacked from a distance._

"_More about the history of Runes can be found in the history section as well as information on fighting skills but for now we must begin at the beginning. If you can already access your magic then skip this section."_

James paused to glance around the room, the students had all left and Paige, Chris and Wyatt were still searching the books. He turned back to the book and did indeed skip the next section.

"_The first Rune you will attempt is a simple lantern rune. It creates a conduit for your magic to become visible light. It can last as long as your magic is nearby to feed it and does little to drain your magic. Additional Runes can be integrated into this Rune to create a permanent lamp that lights whenever you are near enough to feed it._

"_Seek your magic and force it up to you dominant hand, you must then allow the magic to bleed into the air from your index finger as you draw a circle horizontal to the floor. You magic will automatically take an insubstantial form like distorted glass until the circle is complete and then it will glow white. Make sure that your move your finger around the circle at a constant speed and that the circle is as perfectly circular as possible."_

James did as told, he fed his magic into his finger like he had learnt whilst transforming into his Panther Animagus form for the first time. He held up his finger and allowed the magic to creep from the tip of it. He started the circle but was distracted by the glassy trail that it formed and without realising it the magic was cut off.

He frowned as the glassy air faded but returned his finger back to where it started and this time diligently fed magic out as he traced the simple circle. He felt the bleeding magic cut off as the circle was completed, he watched the glassy circle for an instant before he started to glow white until it was as bright as a bulb.

He dropped his hand and suddenly realised that Chris was standing next to him. "What is that?" Chris asked him. Wyatt and Paige stared at him from nearby but seemed wary in coming any closer.

"It's a lamp." James told them. "The Tome said it was a good place to start."

Wyatt and Paige seemed reassured that it wasn't about to explode and came to stare at it. "James?" Wyatt spoke up as the four just stared at the light. "You do realise that your wrist is glowing red don't you?"

"What!?" James yelped as he twisted his left wrist to see that, indeed, his tattoo was glowing red like it was on fire though no flames reached out from his skin. His skin was cool and didn't actually seem to be burning.

"You seem to be getting the knack of this very quickly." Paige pointed out as she brought her finger up to touch the light, the circle flowed away from her probing finger like an irritating fly. "Maybe we should return home, it is almost lunch and we haven't found any useful here apart from that book."

"You can put that out right?" Chris asked him as he too prodded the light and grinned as it slide away from his finger.

"Umm, I think so." James said before continuing at their incredulous looks. "I just started this ok? The book hasn't said yet." He turned his attention back to the page and read the next section.

"_To cut off a Rune all you must do is reach out to it with your mind and connect to the magic that feeds it. With Rune sequences you must remove each Rune in the reverse order to which they were set up or the whole sequence could collapse with unknown consequences."_

James looked up again and concentrated on that slight pulling feeling that seemed to be drawing his magic out in the faintest of trickles to feed the glowing circle. He shut of the magic and watched as the circle simply winked out of existence.

"We'll see you at the Manor." Chris told his Aunt and older brother and they orbed away. James jumped off of the desk and grinned happily at Chris. "Well done." Chris told him with a smile.

"Thanks for everything." James told him before closing the gap and pressing his lips to Chris' in a kiss. He felt Chris try to deepen the kiss as his arms went to James' sides but James just pulled his head back slightly. "Later." James told him with a small smile before he pecked him on the lips and again just as the orbed out of Magic School to return to the much crueller real world.

XOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	15. The Order

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 15; The Order

**Two weeks later; San Francisco Social Service**

James stood behind his desk at work with an open report on his desk, an abuse case. He was due to meet the child for the first time in the morning. The girl, Annette, had already been removed from her older cousins care and he convicted for rape and bodily harm. She was coming in this afternoon so he could get a scope of the mental damage done and give his own opinion on her treatment.

He looked up as Kevin walked in with three more card enclosed folders. James turned down the music playing from a small hi-fi system on a nearby shelf that had been playing some rather loud music, a common sound from his office throughout the day. "What's up Kevin?" James asked seeing that there was something other than the normal discussion of files on the tip of his assistants tongue.

"Chris called," Kevin told him, "He said he cant meet you for lunch, a family emergency. Paige left work too."

"Oh right, doesn't matter." James sighed as he pulled out his seat and sat down rubbing at his head slightly.

"How can you say that?" Kevin blurted out, "It's the third time he done this in two weeks. By anyone else's that's twice too many."

"I'm not going to come between him and his family, Kevin." James told him without looking up from rubbing his temples. He'd been getting headaches ever since the Dementors had come into the city, he knew it was only a lingering effect and that it would fade in a few more days since they had left, along with the Alcatraz Dementors, three days ago after having swept the city.

"Do you actually think it is his family?" Kevin asked slightly more gently this time.

"I trust him, Kev." James said with a sigh. "He has a big family and they are always getting into trouble." James grinned up at Kevin to show that he was being serious.

"How about we go out for lunch then?" Kevin asked.

"I didn't think you were into that sort of thing, Kev." James said with a smirk.

"I'm not thank you. I'm just taking pity on you." Kevin told him with an identical smirk.

Half an hour later they were saying goodbye to Courtney and leaving a message with her for Paige about where they were if they were needed. James drove them in his Toyota to a small café near the centre of the city and parked nearby. It was where they would have been in any rate and since James had made a reservation in his name he might as well use it. They sat down in the outside section in the sun before they started chatting about their own lives.

They avoided anything to do with work since they both had time to talk about that within working hours, instead Kevin told him about what his girlfriend had been doing. She was an accountant with the city, they had met during a meeting that Kevin had sat through about the centres budget discussions. If James was honest with himself he didn't really like her, he had met her once and had found her rather controlling but Kevin seemed to like her and that was good enough for James.

They had just had their food brought to them when James heard an unnervingly familiar voice. A voice that he hated beyond many others. The sarcastic tone that just oozed contempt cut straight through the dozens of conversations there. James flicked his eyes to his right and not ten feet from his sat Severus Snape. Professor of potions at Hogwarts and spy for the Order of the Phoenix.

_James could just see his expression as Snape's eyes met his own and a smug smirk spread across his features. The dark coldness of the courtroom sent shivers down James' back. He shut his eyes and turned his head away to avoid that loathing look._

"James!" Kevin snapped at him, bringing him from his courtroom memories before continuing in a gentler tone. "Are you ok? You've gone really pale."

"Far be it from me to tell _you_ how to do your job, though if you cant even subdue a fourteen year old girl for questioning." The familiar voice drawled and James felt the blood drain from his face. With every Café in San Francisco how had they ended up at the same way. He ignored Kevin's questions again and turned his head so that the Potions Master couldn't see his face.

"I'm a Curse Breaker, Snape!" This was said in a quiet whisper but James' Animagus enhanced hearing picked it up anywayHe felt a warm bubbling in his chest as he recognised the voice as Bill Weasley. "Dumbledore didn't send me as fighter. I'm here to make sure you don't bugger up and set any wards off."

James risked a glance and saw Bill's back as well as the familiar faces of Charlie and Hermione. There was also two there that James didn't know. James knew he should be getting out of there but he needed to know what they were doing here.

"We're also not supposed to be attacking them at all, Professor Snape." Hermione told her old professor with a controlled expression.

"If they know where Potter is then we should do everything we need to find the Bastard, even if it means capturing a little girl and forcing it out of her." One of the unknowns said. James felt his blood run cold, they were looking for him. "If you knew how to fight properly we'd have her by now and know where that Potter brat is."

"How was I supposed to know we were fighting a faked image?" Bill snapped.

"We're also not here to find Harry." Charlie pointed out with a cold tone of voice. "We're here to find out why the Death Eaters are here and to find help against the Demons."

James had pushed his luck and this time it wasn't in a good way. Charlie looked up as a waiter walked passed and his eyes widened slightly as he saw James. James tore his head away in panic and saw Kevin looking at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, Kevin, we need to go. James pulled his wallet and placed a twenty dollar bill on the table to cover the food before he stood. With Kevin beside him he left the courtyard and got out of sight of the group of Wizards. He didn't even look back to check whether Charlie had told them he was there. He hoped that the man who had personally brought the news of Remus' death to him inside Azkaban would overlook his presence.

God he hoped so, he didn't want to have to give up the life that he had here. He was subdued as he drove back to work with Kevin in the passenger seat and even all the way back to his office. "I'm sorry about that, Kev."

"What was that all about?" He sounded irritated but not overly annoyed. Everyone at the centre was used to James' slight eccentricities and James also knew that most wondered about his past. The most popular theory was that he had once been the perfect candidate for the treatments he gave out.

"My headaches got worse." James lied using something that Kevin had been worried about for the last two weeks. "I felt really sick."

"It's ok. Just warn me next time." Kevin sighed. "Have you seen a Doctor yet?"

"I told you, Wyatt took me in, they'll fade in time." James laughed before he pulled out two cans of coke from a draw in his desk and chucked one at his assistant. They sat for a little while in silence for the rest of their hour lunch break and luckily having eaten enough at the Café before they were interrupted they didn't need more food.

"Annette should be arriving soon." Kevin said as he glanced up at the clock.

"Did you want to sit in?" James asked. "I'll log it as experience for your course."

Kevin smiled widely and nodded.

XOXOXOXOXOX

James switched on his flat's light and summoned the tome from his bedroom and into his hand. He flipped it open as he mulled over the information he had heard from the Wizards at the Café. They had tried to capture a fourteen year old girl who had produced a fake version of herself. Chris and Paige had both bailed for a family emergency. That could only mean that Anna, Chris' Astral Projecting little sister, had been attacked by them.

James wanted to know why they had targeted her, especially if it wasn't to capture him. Why was the Order of the Phoenix targeting the Halliwells? James knew the perfect way to find out. Charlie already knew he was here after all. He flipped open the centre if the book, placed his hands on it and concentrated on Rune sequences that would summon somebody to him.

He had been slowly learning from the book, he spent all of his spare time pouring through the lessens that the book gave him. He was either at work, with Chris or reading the book, and even some of the evenings he spent with Chris he read the book. It had slowly taught him Runes for different spells, using the spells to steadily build his knowledge of different Runes and how to draw them reliably. It was the perfect way for him to learn.

He opened his eyes and skimmed the intro to the Rune sequence. Not only was it far beyond his capability but it also needed James to know Charlie's personal Rune. It was useless to him.

James shut the book with a snap. "Gemma!" He called out. He didn't have to wait long before orbs filled the middle of the room and he was looking at his Whitelighter. He hadn't called for her before because he was still rather peeved at her for lying to him and was also slightly unnerved that somebody had known all along who and what he was and never admitted it.

She wore casual jeans and a blouse. "What's the matter, James?"

"There is a group of Wizards in the city." James told her. "Can you find them?"

"We know where they are, the Elders are watching them." Gemma admitted. "I don't know where they are personally and the Elders have forbidden us from exposing ourselves to them."

"So you wont take me to them?" James surmised.

"I'm really sorry, James." Gemma looked contrite enough that James took pity on her.

"It's not your fault." James told her.

"I might suggest you using your Wicca powers though. They can do much if you use the right wording." Gemma told him.

"You mean the spell that Chris taught me?" James asked.

"I didn't tell you that, officially we're not allowed to let our charges involved themselves with these Wizards." Gemma told him with a self satisfied smirk before she exploded into orbs and vanished into the ceiling.

James smirked before he banished the Tome of Runes back into his room and turned to the centre of the room. He braced himself for the action that would end his self imposed exile. His once chance at a new life.

He did what Chris told him he pictured everything he could remember about Charlie Weasley and focused his magic on him.

"Power of the Witches Rise,

Course unseen across the sky,

Come to us, we call you near,

Come to us and settle here."

For a few seconds he thought it had failed until a group of dull lights began to form in the middle of his room before becoming denser and forming that of the second eldest son of Molly and Arthur Weasley.

_Charlie looked up from Hermione's trembling body as she sobbed and met James' eye as he was yanked backwards by the two Auror's and led to his doom._

"Harry!?" Charlie croaked in shock and James pulled himself back together shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the bad memory. What was he becoming? He'd had two of these waking memories in one day and whilst not as bad after the Dementor episode two weeks ago they were still irritating him, not to mention rather upsetting. "Dear Merlin, it was you I saw!"

James met Charlie's eyes before looking him over. He was wearing simple mortal clothing which actually fitted with current mortal fashions, jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt that was obviously to hide his wand in. Said wand however was in his hand and even if it was only loosely in front of him it was still in a position that he could attack with.

James called up his Wicca magic and willing it into action he tore the wand from Charlie's fingers and summoned it towards him, he side stepped to dodge the oncoming wand since any contact with a focus like that would trigger the searching spells the Order, Ministry and Death Eaters were using on him. He heard it clatter against the wall behind him and fall to the ground as his magic receded.

"Charlie." James finally greeted, his voice soft but formal. Even if Charlie had held a sobbing Hermione at the trial and come to tell him of Remus' death it didn't mean he should be trusted, especially since he had information on his whereabouts and could end his nice life here in a few seconds.

Charlie's bright eyes dimmed ever so slightly as he realised James wasn't the same person as he used to be. "You've changed Harry."

James barked out a laugh but relaxed slightly seeing the concern in Charlie's face. "So I have Charlie, though what did you expect." James smiled slightly. "What are you doing in San Francisco?"

"Dumbledore sent us." Charlie admitted. "Snape heard from some Death Eaters that this was where You-Know-Who found his Demon allies. You know about them right?"

"I've had a few run-ins with them." James shrugged.

"Dumbledore wants us to find allies against the Demons." Charlie told him.

"And that's why you attacked a fourteen year old girl at school?" James asked with contempt though it wasn't directed at Charlie and Charlie knew it.

"How do you know about that?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

"Why else do you think I hung about at that Café after I heard Snape's cursed voice?" James snarled at the memory of his voice. "You think I wanted to be caught by that git!?"

"Oh right. I didn't tell him by the way." Charlie sighed, running his hands through his red hair. "I didn't tell 'Mione either."

"'Mione?" James raised an eyebrow before he remembered the way Charlie had held her at the trial. "You two? How long?" His voice took on a cold edge.

"Since the summer you were framed." Charlie told him. "Hermione was staying with us for the summer and we got really close. I asked he out three days before you were arrested, we never got the chance to tell you. I'm really sorry."

"Are you happy together?" James asked.

Charlie raised his hand to show a wedding band. "We got married just over a year ago. On your birthday actually. 'Mione's idea."

James smiled at him. "As long as you are both happy." James told him. "Are you going to be able to keep my presence here a secret from her?"

"I don't know, it was hard enough today." Charlie admitted. "She really misses you. Bill, George, Fred and I had to convince her not to plea for your freedom in the first place. It hurt us all to stop her trying to please your innocence."

"You did the right thing, nobody would have listened to her or any of you." James shook his head. "Ron, himself, tried to arrest me not a month ago even when I was being attacked by Voldemort."

"We heard about that from him. He said you were helping Voldemort to kill a building full of Muggles." Charlie told him.

"It figures he wouldn't notice that I was bleeding with a massive head injury." James sighed.

"How did you get away?" Charlie asked.

"I have a few friends here that helped me." James said in a tone that stopped any further questions on them. "When will you leave here?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked in confusion.

"You attacked a witch here. If I've learnt anything about this place since I moved here it's that if you do that you might as well sign your own death warrant." James told him. "You're dealing with magic you cant understand. Potent magic."

"Cant you help us then?" Charlie asked. "You've fought demons before and won haven't you?"

"I would no sooner help those that betrayed me then I would cut off my own foot." James snapped. "If you tell Hermione I'm here at least tell her that she wont be able to find me and that I wish above anything that she is happy. Look after her."

"Of course." Charlie told him knowing that the argument was lost. If he was in 'Harry's' shoes he would do the same thing.

"And Charlie, know that if any of you keep attacking Witches here like this morning I'll put a stop to it and you don't want that." James told him sternly before raising his hand and sending his guest's wand flying back towards him, showing what in all appearances was Wandless magic. "Also, don't ever believe that Remus killed himself. Draco Malfoy killed him during his initiation. I heard that from the bastard himself."

"I'll let Hermione know if I can." Charlie sighed.

"Thanks Charlie, for everything." James said before he hugged the man in a brief show of emotion before stepping away to let him apparate.

Charlie concentrated for a second before shaking his head in irritation. "I cant apparate. I don't know where I am." Charlie shook his head to shake off the effect of aborted apparition. "How did you bring me here?"

"Let's just say that I've learnt a few things in my time here." James smirked. "Do you know where Golden Gate Recreation Park is?"

Charlie nodded so James gripped his arm and apparated them both across the City and to a large park on the seaward side of the City centre. They appeared in a crop of trees and Charlie hugged James quickly before getting his bearings with a glance at the city rising above them and he disappeared with a crack. James shook his head and apparated out.

Time to chew out his boyfriend.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

James appeared in the attic of his boyfriend's family manor with a small pop and heard a yelp. He frowned, the family was used to his appearances by now and weren't shocked anymore. It had only taken four vases exploding thanks to Wyatt or Piper's trigger happy hands to learn that particular lesson.

He glanced around. There was Piper and Leo behind the Book of Shadows with Phoebe sitting on the window seat behind them with Anna who looked rather pale. Wyatt and Chris were sat on a sofa with their sixteen year old sister, Prue, between them. They wall looked at him in irritation though Chris looked rather pleased to see him. He saw Chris' eyes flicker behind him briefly and turned to see a rather confused looking mortal standing next to Paige and Phoebe's husband, Coup.

James spread out his Wicca magic and watched as the shocked looking mortal's eyes drooped and he collapsed gracefully to the ground sound asleep.

"What did you do!?" Paige gasped as she caught him.

"I put him to sleep." James pointed out calmly.

"You cant just apparate in here whenever you feel like, James!" Wyatt grumbled.

"Like it matters!" James said as he realised the obvious. "You're showing him the Book of Shadows."

"So why did you put him to sleep?" Piper asked with a raised eyebrow.

James shrugged. "Habit?"

"Could you wake him up?" Paige asked from behind him.

"Probably." James told her and heard Chris snort and saw Paige give him a stern look. James lifted a finger and traced a simple Rune he'd learnt from the Tome. It glowed with white fire for a second before darting across the room and settling in the mortals chest. He jerked up as soon as the Energy Rune sunk through his clothes and his hand went to his waist.

"Don't worry, Darrel." Paige assured him. "He's a friend."

"Ok then." The mortal, Darrell, drew the words out in disbelief.

"James, this is Darrell." Chris stood to introduce them. "He's helped us out a lot, especially before Wyatt and I were born. Darrell this is James, he's a Wizard."

"You mean like an evil Wizard?" The obvious police officer asked.

"Evil!" James scoffed. "You think they'd let me in here if I was? Speaking of which." He rounded on his boyfriend. "Care to explain why you ditched me for lunch?"

"We had an emergency." Chris said defensively.

"Oh right!" James laughed. "Like Anna being attacked by six Wizards whilst at school?"

"How did you know about that?" Piper asked with a frown dreading it being public knowledge.

"I wouldn't if you had thought to warn me that some of the people that betrayed me and locked me up in prison were in the city. That way I wouldn't have almost been caught by them!" James snapped.

"You're a felon?" Darrell murmured. James ignored him.

"As it is one of them saw me. Luckily he believes I'm innocent so my life here isn't completely over." James lost his snappish expression and deflated somewhat. "You should have come to me the instant you realised that they were Wizards. Not left me high and dry on my own."

"I'm sorry, James. We didn't think." Chris tried to close the gap but James just took a step backwards to warn him off. Chris frowned.

"I'm not a weakling that has to be protected."

"We're only trying to protect you." Chris pointed out.

"Then you should tell me this stuff, not keep me in the dark!" James glared.

"Ease up, James." Wyatt joined in with a glare. "Chris wanted to tell you."

James returned his glare whole heartedly but allowed Chris to come up beside his and draw him into a hug. James turned to the mortal. "Yes, I'm an escaped convict but I was framed."

"Right…?" Darrell drew the word out again.

"He's telling the truth, Darrell." Chris told him sternly tightening his arm around James' waist ever so slightly.

"Ok, ok." Darrell laughed as he raised his arms in surrender. "I wont tell anyone."

"So what do you know about these Wizards?" Piper asked to draw the topic back on track.

James pushed down the sarcastic reply that came to mind. "There are only six of them here. Members of the Order of the Phoenix who fight against Voldemort. They are here to look for allies against the Demon threat."

"They're going about it the wrong way then." Wyatt snorted.

"That's Snape for you." James scoffed. "I know four of them personally. The three younger ones believe in my innocence, one was my best friend at school. They're the two red heads and the woman. The tall, greasy haired git is an old professor of mine called Snape. He's hated everything about me since before I ever met him. The other two I don't know though they seem to side with Snape in attacking Anna."

Piper stared. "Why do you think they are here?"

"They want allies against the Demons, like I said." James sighed. "By the way, Anna, good work." James smiled at the girl for her Astral Projecting skills.

She grinned back weakly and James felt his blood boil ever so slightly, they'd really scared her. A girl that had grown up around Demons had been frightened. "How do you know that?" Leo asked.

"I summoned one of them to chat." James shrugged.

"You what!?" Chris yelped, "You shouldn't have done that without us."

"Don't start." James sighed. "I trust Charlie. He's going to try to end their little trip without drawing attention to me but I've got a suggestion."

"What's that?" Piper asked sceptically.

"I warned him that there was a powerful group of witches here that protected the witches in San Francisco." James smirked. "And that if they attacked witches here then they would be driven out."

"You want us to attack them?" Phoebe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it sounds selfish but the longer they are the higher the chance of them picking up my magical signature." James sighed. "And there's also the point that if they find you you'll be exposed to my world and you don't want that."

"Didn't your Whitelighter say that we're going to end up involved no matter what?" Paige pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'd rather you were ready when that time comes." James sighed again. He was getting another headache.

"In any case, we'd run them out anyway. We've already scryed them in a cabin just to the south of the City." Piper told him. "We were going to go soon. Are you going to come with us?"

"I haven't got the hang of changing my appearance yet, but if you can change it for me then I'll introduce the Wizards to a Rune Master." James said with a smirk that made them smile at him with glints in their eyes.

"It'll help make a point that their own magic is protecting us." Leo pointed out.

"If you don't mind me staying here tonight then I will put up the wards that I've been working on. Or at least start them." James told them. "Like I said before they'll be obvious to anyone that is trained but the Wizards will know who you are eventually and the Demons would have already told Voldemort who you are and where you live."

"Anything you can do will be appreciated." Piper nodded. "Chris, why don't you take James downstairs and give him a new look while we make some potions?"

"Sure, mom." Chris smirked down at James with a devilish look on his face.

"Remember you're only scaring them." James narrowed his eyes playfully at Piper. "Though as long as the red heads and the girl don't get hurt you can do what you like."

Chris led James down the attic stairs and into the shared room that Wyatt and Chris used when they stayed there. James stopped in the middle of the room rather self consciously as Chris studied him carefully.

"What?" James snapped as Chris frowned.

"I don't want to change you." Chris went rather red and James laughed. "I like you this way."

"Just do it already, Chris." James smiled at him before pecking him on the lips.

"Can I keep your eyes the way they are?" Chris asked.

"Sure, I like them this way." James nodded. Chris concentrated briefly before muttering a spell under his breath. James felt a tingle as magic ran over his body before it settled. Chris glanced him over before grinning.

"I changed your hair colour and hid your scar but I kept everything the same." Chris admitted blushing slightly at the insinuation.

"Maybe we can check on that later?" James stepped forwards into Chris' personal space and placed a lingering kiss on his neck. He felt Chris' arms come up and wrap around his waist. James pulled back slightly before placing a long kiss on Chris' lips. He smiled up at his boyfriend as they pulled apart and then spun his Chris' arms to face the full length mirror.

He wore simple black jeans and a red long-sleeved t-shirt to hide the scars on his arm, a useful choice in this situation since Snape might recognise the knife and fang scar on his arm. His hair had been lengthened slightly and straightened so that it hung about his ears and had become a dark brown colour that complimented his green eyes. James fingered the fringe and was satisfied that Chris' magic could hide the scar on his forehead. He smiled gratefully up at Chris in the mirror. It wasn't much of a change but it had been three years since he had seen any of them and such a subtle change was all that would be needed to throw anyone off.

"Let's go find out if your brother's blown up the attic yet." James laughed. It was common knowledge that Chris was much better at Potions than his brother who was constantly blowing up anything he tried to make. So much so that he was banned from making any without supervision. James commented on it briefly to pamper Chris' sense of confidence.

James led his taller boyfriend out by his hand and back up to the attic just as the potion they were making puffed happily to show it was finished. A trait that James had had to get used to. He had given Chris all of the potions that he could remember and had even managed to make a few but the ingredients were very rare without the magical creatures about.

The mortal police inspector had left already and Prue and Anna were gone, probably to join their cousins. "That look suits you, James." Paige told him with a smile.

"Is that going to be enough to trick them?" Piper asked sceptically.

"It should be, they haven't seen me since I was sixteen and I've changed a lot since then. Charlie might recognised me since he saw me earlier and Hermione might work it out if she gets a close enough look but neither will point it out." James assured them.

"Do you want a potion?" Phoebe asked from near the table. Chris held up a hand and took three and passed one to James who shrugged in acceptance.

"What does it do?" James asked as he eyed the purple liquid carefully.

"Temporarily binds magic." Chris told him after studying it himself for a second. He really was good at potions.

"Are you sure it'll work against Wizards?" James asked them all.

Phoebe shrugged. "Only way we'd know that for sure would be to test it on you." She told him with a grin. "But I doubt you'd want that."

"Are we ready then?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, do you want someone to orb you, James, or do you want to apparate?" Piper asked as she stepped up to a forming group readying themselves to leave.

"I think I'll apparate over first. Make the point I'm a Rune Master." James thought for a second. "How about you follow in about two minutes? I want to threaten them a but first."

"You want to threaten them?" Wyatt gave him a confused look.

James smirked evilly. "Think of it as payback." James looked at the map laid out on the table and Piper pointed to the site they'd found the Wizards.

James accepted the quick peck on the cheek from Chris and the warning to stay safe before he traced a protective Rune in the air in front of him. It blazed briefly before fading from sight. He apparated with a small pop.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Small cabin near San Francisco**

James appeared with a loud crack that made the six occupants of the room jump into action. He instantly noticed their locations. Hermione, Bill and Charlie were standing by the window whilst Snape and the two unknown Order members were sitting at a table. To Snape's credit the first thing he did was vanish the table and chairs to prevent them getting in the way of a fight before he levelled his wand at him.

"_Expelliarmus!" _One of the unknown men snapped out. James didn't even flinch as the spell hit him and faded from existence. James held his hands out to the side. The disarming curse didn't do anything to somebody without a weapon.

"_Incarcerous!" _Snape spoke firmly and ropes shot from his wand. James fed power into his recently drawn Rune and it took form in front of him, flaring outwards it destroyed the incoming ropes and knocked all six off balance.

James glared at Snape before he saw a rather nervous Charlie draw his wand. He sketched a quick Rune in front of him and a blast of light lit the room. When it faded Hermione and one of the unknown Wizards were disarmed. James couldn't help but be impressed. The spell was a simple one that distracted the enemy as it tried to disarm them.

"A Rune Master!?" Snape cried in shock.

"Yes, A Rune Master." James snarled. "You attacked a girl in this City. I have fought against Evil my whole life yet they have never decided on such an action. Leave San Francisco and return to England now or I will show you out."

"We're here to offer an alliance." One of the unknowns spoke up confidently stepping forwards.

"I have neither need or want for an alliance with you. I am allied with the Charmed Ones, Wicca Witches, of who's family you attacked this morning." James snarled as he etched another Rune into the air, it lingered for a few seconds, as it burnt first white and then a sickly blood red colour.

"_Stupefy!"_ Snape snapped sending the stunning curse at him, obviously deciding that he could capture him and then force an alliance out of him. James called up his Wicca magic to form a shield like the one he had used at the motel. The spell bounced back and Snape just managed to dodge it.

"Fool!" James snapped just as orbs filled the air behind him. James activated the Rune just as Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt and Chris appeared. The Rune coalesced into a beam of black light and streaked across the room. Snape tried to raise a shield but the Rune magic shattered it with little effort. James was presented with a shocked look just as the slashing Rune cut through his shoulder, sending blood into the wall behind him.

A telekinetic wave blasted his three friends backwards into the wall though James knew that Chris was holding back as not to harm James' old friends. A spell hit Piper in the side as she dodged and a cut appeared through her shirt. Wyatt responded by sending an explosion at the Wizard. Blood sprayed from the mans hand as his wand exploded.

The last Wizard standing, the one that had tried to disarm him first of all, stared in shock. James focused on him and smelt the air using his Panther senses. "We fight evil here, if people attack us we show them their mistakes. You stink of dark magic!" James growled. A Rune formed at the tip of his fingers and blasted the man backwards into the wall and into unconsciousness. A couple of extra Runes drafted into the air and Snape and the last unknown Wizard followed him.

James stared around the room as Wyatt helped his mother. Paige and Phoebe kept an eye on the three crouched by the window.

"Who are you?" Bill spoke up.

"They are the ones you were sent to befriend. I am someone you offended. Or at least they offended." James said as he gestured at Snape. Charlie gave him a knowing look and James knew he had realised who he was. "We wont condone actions like your within this City, tell whoever commands you that if we see any of you again we'll take more drastic measures to protect ourselves."

"We'll leave." Hermione stuttered looking rather scared. James softened his expression slightly.

"As long as you know you are a force of good you will be happy." James muttered cryptically. He knew the words didn't make much sense, it was something he had told himself whilst in Azkaban and something he had spoken to Hermione in their second year when people had believed him to be evil. He knew she wouldn't get the reference at the moment but eventually she would put the clues together.

James allowed Chris to orb him from the room and the attic of the Halliwell Manor came into focus around him. He sagged against Chris with a sigh before he grinned up at him. "That was fun!"

"Fun!?" Piper gasped.

"Yeah, I needed that. Snape was so smug when they carted me off, it felt good to wipe that look off of his face." James laughed and Chris pressed his chin into his newly brown hair.

"I'm going to get a start on dinner, I take it you're eating here, James?" Piper put in.

"If that's ok with you?" James said, suddenly rather sheepish having never actually been to dinner with them since he had Chris had officially become a couple just under two weeks ago.

"Of course, you are staying the night after all." Piper pointed out just as Paige and Phoebe vanished to their homes and Wyatt went to pick up his two younger sisters and Leo walked in.

"I'll get started in those wards, it'll take some time, at least tonight to put up the basic parts, but it'll give you at least a little defence and a warning." James said.

"Did everything go ok then?" Leo asked.

"I think we scared them enough." Chris smirked. "I think James here got a bit over zealous."

"He deserved it." James mumbled a deep growl emitting from his chest courtesy of his panther Animagus form. "Oh, once Wyatt gets back, absolutely no magic transport or magic of any kind whilst I'm working on the wards."

"Why not?" Chris asked more out of curiosity then complaint since unlike his brother he barely used magic in his everyday life.

"It'll muck with my Rune magic and destabilize everything." James informed them. "Where's the most central place in the house?"

"Probably the smaller bathroom connected to the hall and the boys' room." Leo said after a moment. "Do you need it more accurately than that?"

"No, that's close enough." James said as he followed Piper out of the room with Chris and Leo behind him. "I'm going to need a knife though, preferably sharp."

Piper span on him when they were in the hallway with a suspicious look. "Why?"

"I need to anchor the outer boundaries of the ward and I can only do that with my blood." James told her rather stubbornly.

She thought about this for a time. "As long as you let Chris watch and heal you if needed."

"It wont take that much blood." James protested but seeing how she wasn't going to budge on the subject he nodded.

"I'll get you a knife from the kitchen." Piper sighed. "Chris, you watch him."

"Yes, mom." Chris stammered with an apologetic look at James who just smirked at him playfully. They made a quick detour to the kitchen where James took the offered knife from Piper before he walked into the back garden.

"What I'm going to do is walk the perimeter of the house placing drops of my blood at no more than metre intervals. This method of grounding wards is the most potent but also rather illegal." James explained as he pulled up his sleeve and readied himself.

"Illegal?" Chris sounds rather shocked.

"According to my Tome the ministry outlawed all magic involving blood, even willingly given, because of its potency." James explained before jerking the knife across his palm making Chris wince. James clenched his fist tightly to control the flow before he set out around the fence explaining as he went. "When I set up the wards it takes a lot of concentration to control the span of the wards. You have to constantly pull them in or push them out to the desired size. If I did that they would be weaker because of the variation and I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the overall perfection of it."

"What will they do?" Chris asked to pull his own attention away from the dripping blood.

"The first set will be a control and detection set. They'll activate if somebody tries to travel through them magically. Or if someone with malicious intent tries to walk through them." James explained patiently. "They wont stop somebody powerful but it might slow them down. Once I add more of the sequences they'll become more powerful. I can then add personal attributes. Traps, warnings, and loopholes."

"Loopholes?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"The wards will prevent any magical attack on the house and any magical intrusion, including our own. If somebody managed to gain entry somehow it would also protect you from magic." James told him.

"I don't see how you'd need a loophole in that?" Chris pointed out.

James smirked at him. "How often does Wyatt orb here rather than drive? Imagine what he'd say if I forced him to drive or even walk?" James laughed helping Chris' inferiority complex slightly.

"So it would prevent us from orbing in?" Chris asked slowly coming to his way of thinking.

"Not only that, it would prevent you from orbing out or from minor magic from effecting you within." James pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to use magic on each other for example. The wards would react against it. You could heal your mom for example or cast spells on one another. Change your appearance. And so on."

"So…?" Chris prompted.

"You remember when I was teaching you to find your magical core and use it to power your mental defences?" James asked. "Something that I hope you, Matt and Jason are still working on?"

"Yeah, I remember and we are." Chris defended himself and his cousins.

James smiled at him placatingly even as he finished the rectangle of his blood. "I used Rune magic the Tome taught me to learn you personal Rune. With it I can cast specific spells on you, search for you or in this case allow your magic to pass unaffected through the wards."

"So you do that with the others and let us have free reign?" Chris asked as he placed a hand in James and healed him before tugging him slowly back into the house.

"I've already learnt Matt and Jason's and as I teach the others I'll be able to do the same with theirs. I can enter the Runes into the ward and they'll allow the loopholes." James told him. "I'll also teach Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt and you how to temporarily add somebody to that in case of emergencies where I'm not around."

"What about you? Will you need to add your own Rune?" Chris asked out of curiosity.

"The wards will be full of my own magic and signature, they wont have any effect on me." James told him with a small smile as they accepted drinks from Piper in the kitchen. "They wont do that kind of thing for about a week yet. It'll take me most of the week to build them up to that point and another week or so after that to get them to full power but after that, they'll be impregnable. Even more so than my old school."

"That's always reassuring." Piper joined the conversation. "Wyatt, Prue and Anna are back by the way and I've told them, no magic at all until you say so."

"Bet Wyatt was pleased with that." Chris scoffed. James slapped his arm playfully.

"Speaking of protection." James changed the subject. "I was wondering Piper, with Charlie knowing I'm here and word of a Rune Master going to reach my old Headmaster soon, could I leave the Tome of Runes up with the Book of Shadows?"

"That's fine, dear." Piper smiled at him. "Anything else you need before you start work?"

"Chris can sit in if he's silent and doesn't move but nobody can interrupt." James told them in way of an answer.

"Why not?" Chris asked, again only out of curiosity.

"Some parts of the Runes will disintegrate if I lose concentration and they'll tear it all down and give not only me a headache but all of you as well as well as probably mucking up anything magical in the house." James explained. "I'd suggested you give us a bottle of water and a snack to take up with us. I'll able to take breaks but I wont want to leave the sequences until their complete."

"How long are you expecting this to take?" Piper asked.

"I don't honestly know, I've never done something like this and I'll be reading it in sections straight from the Tome if I get stuck." James admitted. "Maybe early morning, two, three at the latest."

"I don't have an early lecture tomorrow so I'm fine." Chris smiled, "But don't you have work in the morning?"

"I wont be able to sleep after accessing that amount of magic and focusing it no matter when I finished." James informed him before turning to leave the room and head upstairs.

Chris grabbed a couple of cushions from the bedroom before they made their way into the smaller bathroom. James told Chris to leave the door open since the room was too claustrophobic for James after Azkaban and Chris accepted it without question. They had only slept in the same bed once and they had only slept but James had refused to let the covers sit any higher than his waist since he felt uncomfortable overwise. Strangely the dark didn't bother him though Chris knew it was because James' Animagus form gave him better night vision even in his human form.

James settled down and summoned the Tome of Runes to him. He set it out on his lap and opened it to a scribbled list near the back. Chris couldn't read it but he had seen James writing it the other day. It was in a strange language that James called Parseltongue, the language of snakes. To Chris is just looked like scratches except for a few small etchings that looked like the Runes that he had seen James use.

"Anything you need to say and get out of your system before we start?" James asked.

"Not really." Chris laughed.

"Ok then, don't say anything unless I speak first." James nodded to himself before he pulled up his Wizarding magic to the fore and started on the first sequence that would throw his magic out into the air and allow it to be manipulated.

Over the next hour and a half a small globe of Runes filled the air in front of James. He would use glowing hands to spin it into different positions to look at different sides and draw short rows of Runes in the air before shrinking them and guiding them carefully into place in the larger sphere before they blazed and settled in to a gentle throbbing. James glanced down with a frown before nodding his head. The sphere faded from sight as James pulled his hands back and focused on Chris.

"Done."

"Done?" Chris croaked slightly into the silent room.

"Well at least that part. We're now surrounded in a web of magic." James told him. Chris raised an eyebrow. "It's more complicated then you can imagine. You could see the sphere."

"What was that?"

"It's called a Rune Matrix. I can summon it anywhere within the house to check on the state of the wards but its easier to build up in the very centre because that's where it wants to be." James told him.

"Wants to be?" Chris scoffed.

"Don't offend it, Chris. It might bite you." James teased as he stood and stretched his legs. "Seriously though, with enough time and concentration magic can become semi sentient. My old school had a mind of its own. I could almost feel it at times."

"So what now?" Chris asked gesturing at the book.

"I'm about a fifth of the way through what I want to do tonight. The next stage is getting the web of magic to recognise magic." James told him. "Now though, I'm really hungry, want to go find food?"

"Definitely!" Chris grinned.

They wandered downstairs, James kept the Tome of Runes tucked under his arm tightly and smiled at Piper as they walked into the living room where she was sitting with Leo, Anna and Prue. "Did Wyatt leave then?" Chris asked.

"He left about half an hour ago? That didn't mess with anything right?" Piper directed at James who had already known Wyatt had left. He'd never admit it to Chris but he was glad Wyatt was out of the house, his magic was too distracting when he was trying to set up wards around the house. James shook his head to placate Piper. "How is it going?" She asked.

"I'm getting there, we were getting hungry so we took a break." James told her.

"Well I'm afraid it's cold pizza if you want something. I burnt the chicken." Piper admitted looking rather red.

"You burnt food!?" Chris sounded rather shocked and James couldn't blame him, she was an excellent cook.

"I don't know what happened really, it burnt half an hour before it should've been done." Piper protested in her defence.

"Your cooker wouldn't be regulated by electricity would it?" James muttered sheepishly. Piper nodded and James looked at his feet in embarrassment. "That'd be my fault then. The magic of raising the web must have interfered with the regulator and turned up the heat."

"So that's why the lights were flickering?" Leo asked though he didn't sound accusatory.

"Probably, it'll only happen when I'm doing something with them." James assured them.

"How much did you get done?" Prue asked suddenly from the sofa.

"There's a nice bubble of my magic surrounding the house." James told them proudly but only got stares in response. "Hey! It's a highly concentrated and finely tuned bubble."

Chris chuckled. "What he was doing looked rather confusing to me."

James smiled at him with a nod. "I have to do everything in the right order overwise it will be easy to pick apart if a ward breaker attacks it."

"Can you show them the Matrix?" Chris asked. James nodded and held up his right hand palm up.

"Matrix?" Anna asked.

"Think of it as a computer hub that control everything from your heating to what you eat, what lights are on and so on." James explained before he summoned the Rune Sphere to float above his hand. They stared at the gold Runes as they spun around trying to understand the strains as they weaved together.

James noticed something off with the front edge of the web and pulled up the string of Runes that were pulsing slightly by tapping them with his left fore finger. "You've got a guest." He told Piper.

"Who is it?" She asked.

"It cant tell that yet, only that somebody just disturbed the web of magic. I cant even tell if they are magical or not." James admitted before banishing the Matrix just as somebody knocked on the door.

Leo stood to answer it and a few seconds later he came back in and told Prue that her friend Annette wanted to know if she could help her study. Piper glanced as James and he shrugged. "If she's here she might feel something as I change the wards even if she isn't magical. Normally I'd need a mortal around to 'teach' the wards the difference but Leo is here and whereas he's not properly non magic the difference is there."

"Why don't you go out then, Prue?" Piper told her daughter and glanced at the clock that showed it was eight. "Make sure you're home by ten though, you have school tomorrow."

Prue ran from the room just as Chris and James tucked in to the cold pizza left on the table. Ten minutes later James left with Chris in tow to continue the work. Over the rest of the evening he 'taught' the web of magic to first recognise the difference between mortals and magic users, then different emotions so it could detect malicious intent. Finally he gave it a visual alarm in the form of red orbs that would appear before and of the family members, to do this he used Chris' magical signature as a basis so that it would recognise his family. Finally he gave it an outer edge that would prevent anyone with malicious intent from easily gaining access whether by trying to walk through it or transport through it magically. It would also stop mortals with malicious intent from entering which was also in violation of Ministry regulations since it would expose magic but James didn't care.

He sighed as he sat back, his body humming with energy. The wards would have normally exhausted most casters and indeed his Wizarding magic was rather low but his Wicca magic was bubbling with energy that kept him wide awake. "Want to crash out?" Chris asked him tiredly.

"I told you I wont be able to sleep." James told him with a smile.

"Well, I want to sleep." Chris told him grumpily. "You can either sit up or lie down with me."

"I'll join you." James told him as he stood and stretched him legs.

James followed Chris into the room that he or Wyatt used whenever they stayed there and after quickly stripping to their boxers that settled into the bed. James curled up against Chris' side with his head on his chest. They didn't speak as Chris rubbed circles into James' back as he drifted off to sleep.

James lay there for about an hour listening to Chris' heartbeat near his ear and his breath on the top of his head. James didn't even realise he was getting tired until his eyes were closed and he was asleep against everything he expected.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts**

Charlie, Bill and Hermione stood in the Hospital Wing as Poppy Pomfrey worked on the three other members of their team. All three had serious concussions, Ralf McVare, had a torn up hand and no longer had a wand whilst Snape had some serious damage to his shoulder and upper arm. The worst thing was that the shoulder wasn't responding well to healing magic. The first spell that Poppy used had only worsened it. Obviously a problem with the Rune Magic that had created it.

"How did the three of you get away with no injury when this was done to Severus, Ralf and Michael?" Albus Dumbledore asked them as he watched Poppy slowly heal Snape's shoulder after finally finding a way to counter the magic.

"I believe it's because we didn't attack them. Professor Snape attacked unprovoked after being asked politely to leave." Charlie explained silencing Hermione quickly before she could say anything.

"Do you really think that Snape was the best personal to send on a mission like this, Albus?" Bill asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because of his place in the Death Eaters he knew the most about the Wicca magic that you were to face." The Headmaster told them.

"That's the problem though, we weren't going to 'face' it but ask for help. I doubt we have any chance of an allegiance now, Sir." Charlie protested. He'd easily worked out who the Rune Master was and knew that sending Snape definitely hadn't helped the Headmaster's plan any.

"This Rune Master you met." Albus Dumbledore started. "How old do you think he was?"

"I don't know for sure, Sir. Maybe in his early twenties." Bill said after a pause in which Charlie kept quiet and Hermione looked thoughtful.

"So, he's probably not fully trained yet." Albus pondered.

"Not fully trained?" Bill asked flabbergasted. "He threw those three around like rag dolls. And that Wicca witch threw us out of the fight with a wave of his hand and I think he pulled his punch!"

"If he really was a Rune Master then he could have done far more damage to them." Albus told them quietly before he turned to leave.

"What are you going to do, Sir?" Charlie asked. If he could find out he'd let Harry know.

"I plan on writing them a letter of apology now that we know who they are and ask for a formal meeting." Albus told them honestly.

"Maybe you should wait a while. We did attack their daughter after all." Charlie suggested. He wanted to give Harry as much warning as possible.

"Maybe I will do. Thank you Charlie my boy." Albus smiled at them before leaving the room.

"We better go visit mum, don't you think love." Charlie said to distract his wife from her thoughts about the Rune Master and more importantly from Harry. "Are you coming, Bill?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

_**Somewhere near London**_

_He stared down across his faithful chillingly gazing on each one in turn relishing in the shudders he received as each looked up at him from their knees. This was how it should be. But this was enough for him, he wanted all the Wizards on Earth to follow him, to do that he needed the Underworld on his side. Together, they could rule over all magic. No longer would Good fight against them, there would only be those that fought for him._

_But something stood in his way. The Wicca witches that had kept the Underworld in check all these years. They had managed to stop his Death Eaters from getting at the Potter brat and now there was mention of them allying with Dumbledore. What was worse was that Abaddon, the current leader of most of the Underworld refused to fight against them, especially now that word of a Rune Master helping them had reached their ears._

_He looked up as said Demon strolled across the room sending Death Eaters scuttling to the side. He came alone as was usual and wasn't cowed by him as he rose from the chair._

"_What do you mean by sending a minion to tell me that I must attack the Charmed Ones?" Abaddon growled, his yellow eyes flashing._

"_I must have them out of the way before we can ally our forces against the Wizards." He told the man calmly._

"_I wont attack them, they are too powerful, send your own men!" The Demon snapped, unafraid of him._

"_Then what do you suggest?"_

"_We attack them when they were weakest." Abaddon grinned maliciously. "Before the second generation came into their powers and before this Rune Master intervened. I have recently come across information that will enable us to travel back twenty years and strike then."_

"_Did they not kill any Demon that fought against them back then also?" He asked._

"_They would not be able to defend against your Wizards. They would be unable to fight them." Abaddon told him._

_He pondered the idea for a while before he looked sideways at a trio of Death Eaters. "Lucius, Bellatrix, Draco, gather ten more men of your choosing, you leave in twenty minutes."_

_Abaddon nodded slightly as he spun from the room to prepare the spell._

**Halliwell Manor**

James' eyes opened and he looked up at Chris' peacefully sleeping face, he groaned as he realised what had just happened. He'd received a dream, one sent from Voldemort, of a Death Eater meeting. He remember everything about it from the feeling of pleasure that Voldemort felt at instilling fear in his troops all the way to the pleased look on the Elder Malfoy's face at being given the mission. James felt his eyes drop again but this time it wasn't a pleasant warm feeling of sleep. It was violent and irritating.

_The room was dark except for a bright portal that lit up one wall within an inverted pentogram. As he watched two figures in black cloaks vanished into it. Two more were waved through. Ten in total went through before the final three glanced at each other and one by one stepped into the swirling vortex. It shut off behind them and a yellow eyed Demon stepped from the shadows with a smirk on his face. Even as he watched he vanished from sight, it wasn't apparition or even shimmering, it was more like the Demon faded from existence. Taken somewhere else._

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	16. Rift

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 16; Rift

**Halliwell Manor**

James shot up with a gasp and his hand hit Chris who jolted out of his own sleep. "What's the matter, James?" He said tiredly as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and placed his hand on James' back. James shivered ever so slightly but didn't look at his boyfriend.

"I think I had a premonition." James whispered staring around the room. Something was seriously off, the sun was still low in the sky and shadows still ruled the room making it difficult to work out.

"Past, present of future?" Chris asked not sounding in the least surprised which concerned James immensely. He'd only had a few of them since coming to San Francisco and Chris had never known about them but here he was not in the least shocked.

"Present…I think." James whispered before standing from the bed. "This is wrong."

"What's wrong?" Chris asked, his frown echoing in his voice.

James walked to the window but his nose picked it up first. His panther almost growled at the strange smell. It smelt like lingering smoke, like the garden had burnt down a couple of weeks ago and nobody had cleaned it up properly. He pulled back the curtains and gasped.

As far as he could see was ruin, the buildings were there but they were barely standing. Scorch marks were everywhere, smashed windows and far worse was the sight of down town San Francisco. Most of the buildings were cut off like something had destroyed the top few floors. A fresh smoke trail reached into the sky in the distance by the bay and all James could do was stare in shock.

He didn't notice Chris come up behind him until he felt his arms wrap around his waist. "You know I prefer to keep them closed." Chris muttered.

James pulled himself out of his boyfriend's arms and backed up against the window in an attempt to get away from him. "What are you talking about, Chris!?" James gasped out to his shocked boyfriend. "This is all wrong!"

"What are _you _talking about?" Chris frowned slightly, the city's been like this for two years.

"What!?" James ducked passed him and headed for his jeans and shirt lying on the back of one of the chairs in the room. "I ate in a café with Kevin just yesterday!"

"Kevin?" Chris quirked his head as if trying to recall somebody who didn't exist. "Who's Kevin?"

"He works with me and Paige." James sighed exasperatingly.

"James! That's not funny!" Chris snapped tugging on his own jeans in annoyance. James glanced around the room and noticed the difference, it looked like it hadn't been cared for in years.

"What are you talking about, Chris?" James lost the edge to his tone. Whatever had happened to the city had obviously done something to change Chris as well. Things started to fall into place in his mind.

"I don't even know Aunt Paige, James. I didn't think you'd joke around about something like that." A deadened look flashed through Chris' eyes and James noticed that they were almost dead, like his had been ever since he had been dumped into Azkaban.

James grabbed Chris' arm with a tight grip and stared up into his eyes, something in his panicked expression must have had an effect since Chris frowned slightly. "What did you dream about?"

"The Wizards, they plotted something with a Demon named Abaddon to go back in time and kill your family." James whispered in despair and he felt he knees sag slightly. He just wanted a way for Chris to understand what had happened, he couldn't face this alone. James frowned as Chris jerked before they both fell to the ground. Chris gasped out as a premonition swept through it and James was forced to cradle him to stop him from falling the last two feet to the ground.

James watched Chris' face until his eyes came back into focus. His boyfriend glanced around the room before his eyes settled back on James and tears began to form at the corner of his eyes. "Chris?" James prompted nervously, "What happened?"

"I saw it, I think it was your premonition but I remember everyone." Chris sobbed. "Oh god, they're all gone!"

"Who're gone, Chris?" James prompted as he grabbed for Chris' hand and tried to sooth him. "Who, Chris?"

"They killed Paige first and then Wyatt died." Chris sobbed. "He was too young to remember either of them."

"He?" James asked slightly worried now.

"I cant explain it. I remember everything from this world like it was in a dream but I remember growing up with Wyatt and everyone clearly." Chris shook slightly and pulled himself back to standing. "Dad never became human after that and Prue and Anna were never born. Mom hasn't said a word to me in the last year."

James gasped in shock. This was far worse then he'd imagined. "What about your Aunt Phoebe?"

Chris shock his head slightly. "She's alive I think but she hasn't been around in years. She still married Uncle Coup and they had Patience, Felix and Jason but I don't know how they are."

"Where's your dad?"

"Never met him." Chris frowned, "Well, obviously I have… well _I_ have…I mean, but _he _hasn't"

James almost laughed but calmed himself by remembering how bad the situation was. "I get it, Chris." James sighed.

"What are we going to do?" Chris muttered.

James fell back onto the bed and placed his head into his hands. He thought for a while before finding a plan that actually had a chance of working, remembering what he had read in the Book of Shadows about when this had happened the first time. "We'll have to go back and fix the problem." James said suddenly. "Voldemort sent Wizards because the Charmed Ones wouldn't be able to handle them back then so we'll just have to go back to even the odds slightly."

"And we get back there how?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"You did it before." James grinned slightly even though he didn't feel at all happy with the situation. "Well, one of you did."

"Funny, James." Chris shook his head. "I don't know how he managed it. Mom removed the spell from the book."

"Should we try and ask her then? She's downstairs." James suggested.

"How do you know she's downstairs?" Chris asked as he pulled his shorter boyfriend up from the bed and towards the door.

"I can hear her in the kitchen." James told him as he tapped one of his ears. Chris just nodded as he led the way down.

"Hey mom!" Chris called as they reached the downstairs hallway. The rest of the house was as bad as the bedroom, it looked as if it hadn't been properly looked after and, James noticed, many of the windows had been smashed. "Mom!? Are you in here?"

James and Chris walked into the kitchen to find his mom looking out of the window. She didn't react to their presence at all. James walked over to her side whilst Chris grabbed some stale looking bread from the table. He eyed it slightly before tearing off a chunk and biting into it. "Piper?" James asked quietly and she finally turned to look at him. She seemed confused for a time and her eyes didn't actually come into proper focus.

"Breakfast in on the table." She deadpanned without the least emotion in her voice. James heard Chris take a sharp intake of breath and he turned his head to meet Chris's gaze. There was a deep sorrow there but also Chris just seemed scared.

"Thank you, Piper." James sighed before he pulled Chris from the room. He placed his arm around Chris' slim waist and guided him back up the stairs noting that Chris wasn't even walking on his own. He led him straight up into the attic. He guided Chris down onto a dusty sofa.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked as he came back to himself.

"The Book of Shadows isn't here." James pointed out. "Either your mom hid it or your Aunt Phoebe has it."

"So?" Chris asked.

"We're going to summon her here to find out exactly what happened back then and get her to help send us back." James explained.

"You think that will work?" Chris asked.

"I cant think of any other plan." James surmised. "I had to have had that premonition for a reason. If not to fight those Wizards then why else?"

"Let's do it." Chris nodded and stood. "At least I know I'm not leaving anything behind here."

James nodded before grabbing Chris' hand so that they could combine their magic to overcome any resistance on Phoebe's part. They chanted the first part together before Chris cut into his wrist with his teeth before saying the last two lines.

"Power of the Witches Rise,

Course unseen across the skies,

Come to us, we call you near,

Come to us and settle here.

Blood to blood, I summon thee,

Blood to blood, return to me."

For a couple of seconds James thought that it had failed, obviously the delay meant that the person resisted the effect since it had happened with Charlie too, but soon grey orbs began to collect in the centre of the attic and they faded to reveal a very pissed of Phoebe Halliwell.

"Chris?" She gasped. "What are you doing?"

"Aunt Phoebe?" Chris gasped. She had obviously changed a lot, she wore a lot of black, her hair hung around her neck rather than in the short way she had taken to.

"Of course it's me!" She softened slightly as she took in Chris' rather worn appearance. "How is your mom?"

Chris winced violently at the mention of the woman downstairs who didn't act in the slightest part like his actual mother but rather a zombie. "She's downstairs. We need your help."

"Who is this?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm James, a Wizard." James sighed impatiently.

"A Wizard?" Phoebe gasped. "Chris! You should know better then to associated with any Wizard!"

"James is good." Chris snapped harshly. "Listen to us. We need your help to go back in time."

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe frowned. "You told me you wanted nothing to do with magic."

"I had a premonition this morning." Chris lied, not willing to tell her that it was actually James' premonition since she seemed to not trust him. "This is all wrong!" He said gesturing around him at the decrepit attic space.

"What do you mean wrong, sweetie?" Phoebe asked though she soundly slightly placating.

Chris sighed and looked at James so he took hold of the explanation. "I don't remember anything from this world. Magic obviously brought my mind from the proper reality. We witnessed a man called Voldemort send thirteen Wizard's back through time to kill the Charmed Ones and their children."

"I remember that, they killed Paige and Wyatt." Phoebe gasped slightly, "You think they're from the future?"

"They were from yesterday." James told her. "Like Chris said, this is all wrong. You should be living in San Francisco. Paige should be married to a mortal with five children. Leo should be mortal and Chris has two younger sisters. Not to mention Wyatt is still alive."

"You're kidding!?" Phoebe seemed to believe them though.

"I wish we were." Chris sighed. "We need to know how my other self went back in time to protect Wyatt."

"You want to go back?" Phoebe frowned obviously unwilling to let them regardless of the strange situation.

"I guess that when they attack you didn't know what you were facing?" James asked.

"We didn't have a clue what they were." Phoebe sighed. "Paige died without a chance and then after three months of fighting we managed to kill four of them but they managed to kill Wyatt in their last attempt. Piper blew up on them and completely obliterated them but it cost her. She came out without her mind and without her powers."

"I'm a Wizard, I'm like them." James told her. "If you help send us back I can help protect you all and Chris can face them in the not messed up reality."

"You've got to believe us, Aunt Phoebe. You've got to help us!" Chris cried.

"I do believe you, Chris." Phoebe sighed. "Regardless of how surreal it sounds. I'll help you out. Chris, go draw a Triquetra on the wall over there."

Chris nodded before searching for a piece of chalk. James walked over to where the pedestal sat, still undisturbed. "Do you have the book then?"

Phoebe watched him as he ran his hands over the dusty wood obviously sizing him up. "My family keep it in New York." She said eventually.

"So, you're letting Patience, Felix and Jason practice magic?" James asked with a small smile.

She nodded. "I'm sorry if I'm acting rather rude, I have never had a good experience with a Wizard."

"That's ok, I can understand it." James sighed. "What are the Wizards doing then?"

"They helped the demon Abaddon take over the Underworld and I couldn't stop them alone. They've been acting as assassins ever since, killing off any Wicca witches they can find." Phoebe sighed. "There are rumours of resistance groups in Europe but I've never met one of them."

"Sound about right." James sighed. "What about a Wizard called Voldemort?"

"I've met him once but luckily I was with Patience and she could transport us out of there." She shivered slightly. "Is he in your world as well then?"

"He killed my parents and I'm on the top of his to kill list." James chuckled slightly though he wasn't really amused. He'd had enough of this world already.

James realised that she had been scribbling on a piece of paper while they talked and Chris joined them just as they finished. "If this works then you'll appear just before they did any permanent damage. I've been trying to remember exactly what happened back then. We were at the park playing with Wyatt and Chris when they ambushed us. Paige fell to the Killing Curse before we realised what had happened."

"So we need to get her out of the line of fire and then get you all to safety?" Chris asked uncertainly.

"You'd best do it without warning us as well. All thirteen attacked us and the two of you wont be able to defend us in time." Phoebe explained. "Can you both orb?"

"Chris can, I can apparate." James told her.

She shivered slightly. "Can you take passengers?" James nodded resolutely as her plan became clear to her. "I was sitting on the ground with Wyatt and Chris, and Piper and Paige were sitting on the bench talking together."

"So Chris can orb you, Wyatt and Chris out." James said frowning at the strange sentence. "And I'll apparate Piper and Paige out."

"You'll appear in the attic," Phoebe explained, "Do you know the small fountain of an angel in Golden Gate Memorial park?" James and Chris both nodded. "That's where you'll find us."

"Are you ready, Chris?" James asked and Chris nodded.

"Join hands and read the spell then head through the portal." Phoebe said. They all looked down at the paper and chanted the spell.

"Hear these words, hear the rhyme,

Heed the hope within my mind,

Send me back to where I'll find,

What I wish in place and time."

Blue light swirled across the wooden wall and the Triquetra filled with a blue portal. "You wont have much time once you go through." Phoebe warned. "Good Luck."

"Thanks Aunt Phoebe." Chris smiled at her.

They joined hands and both stepped through the portal of magic and stepped out again far in the past into a clean attic. The Book of Shadows sat on the pedestal with all innocence and the blue light filling the room faded in a few seconds back into the low sun of a later afternoon. "Use your powers to pull your mom and Aunt down onto the ground whilst I distract the Death Eaters." James told him as he turned to face them. "I'll apparate us or we wont arrive at the same time."

Chris nodded fully prepared for the horrid feeling of side-along apparition. "Main thing is to get them back and get some sort of protection up." James nodded his agreement before concentrating briefly on apparating them.

XOXOXOXOXOX

**Golden Gate Memorial Park**

"It's so nice to see the two of them actually playing together." Paige smiled at her older sister after watching the two young boys, four year old Wyatt and two and a half year old Chris, as they played with Phoebe on the grass not ten feet from them.

"It's been so long since I've gotten them out of the house and I wanted to do it before it got too cold for it." Piper smiled back warmly.

Whatever Paige was going to say was interrupted by a loud crack nearby. Paige stopped Piper from attacking on instinct even as she had to resist the urge to orb out of there. Two men stood nearby and there wasn't a chance that they had arrived their naturally. Before either of them could take a good look at the two, they heard the sound of branches cracking as somebody emerged from the forest behind them.

Piper spun on the bench along with Paige in time to see a beam of sickly green light heading straight for her youngest sister. She tried to call out but nothing came out. Her eyes widened as she felt an undeniable force grip her whole body and sent her sprawling backwards off of the bench with Paige at her side. The green light shot harmlessly over their heads but the air nearly crackled with evil energy. The force vanished as fast as it had arrived and Piper twisted from the ground to see the taller man obscure her view of Phoebe and her two boy's before the four vanished in a large cloud of orbs.

"No!" She cried out as her boy's were kidnapped and she pulled her self to her feet to find herself beside her youngest sister. The shorter of the men stood nearby facing away from them. His brown hair waving around in the non-existent breeze. They watched as a symbol appeared in the air between him and the trees where cloaked figures lurked in the trees with skulls for faces.

The symbol her had drawn flared with blue flames before he swept his arm in a wide arc parallel to the floor. Fire flew from the symbol and set light to the outer edge of the small wood. Cries of pain erupted as some of the attackers were burned but neither her or her sister had time to ponder this magic. The man spun and startling green eyes met her own.

He closed the gap between them before she could react and she felt a hand clamp tightly to her own wrist and then her world went blank. For what felt like a full minute she was being sucked through a tube only a fraction of her size.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

James reappeared with another loud crack in the attic but didn't get a chance to do more then release his woozy passengers when a blue light flashed to his side and he realised his mistake even as he felt a massive force smack into his side and send him flying across the room and into the wall.

He groaned slightly as he propped himself up on his arms to view the room sending a light glare at Wyatt that seemed to irk his mother. "Don't glare at my son!" She snapped.

"My apologies, Piper." James groaned again as he pulled himself to his feet. Chris chose that moment to orb in beside him making the point that he hadn't actually been there when James had arrived. "Where have you been?"

"I went back to find out what they were doing?" Chris sighed ignoring the shocked silence that had spread through the room.

"Cooking merrily I hope." James smirked. "Hopefully the arrival of mortal fire fighters will prevent them from hanging around and tracking my apparition."

"Chris!?" Piper gasped out drawing their attention back to the three women in the room. James glanced sideways at Chris before taking a half step back leaving Chris in the open.

"Yeah, mom?" Chris winced slightly.

"It is you!" Piper cried and before James or anybody else could interrupt she'd gathered Chris up in her arms with a small sob.

James knew this would happen, by the presence of baby Chris this was after the other Chris had died protecting Wyatt. "Not to be a spoil sport here, Piper. But you've not actually met this Chris before." Piper let go of Chris with a frown and James' boyfriend turned to him with a small glare on his face. "Well, he is sitting on the floor there, but he's not the same one that came back from the future to protect Wyatt."

"So, the other Chris managed it?" Phoebe frowned though none of them took their eyes off of James, still unsure as to who he was.

"Yes, he did." Chris spoke as he came to stand beside James. "The future we come from should be happy. Perfect actually."

"At least in your part of the world." James muttered but he was silenced by his boyfriend's glare. "Those men that attacked you in the park were sent back from the future to kill you because they weren't capable of facing your whole family in the future. I'm sorry to say that they managed it."

"What do you mean?" Paige asked cocking her head slightly.

"The future we live in was changed, the City is dead and the family is gone." Chris sighed. "James and I were the only ones that remembered what it should have been so we came back to now to try to save you."

"Who are you then?" Piper asked James with a slight glare, obviously remembering the way that Wyatt had reacted to him.

"I'm like those that attacked you. A Wizard, though I'm far more powerful then them, and on your side." James told them.

"How can we be sure of that?" Piper asked him. "Wyatt doesn't trust you."

"Please, mom!" Chris laughed. "Wyatt didn't trust anybody straight off at that age. You trust him in the future. He works for Paige in the proper future."

"What do you mean by in the proper future?" Paige asked with a frown.

James winced and knew that Chris gulped rather extremely. "That spell would have hit you if Chris hadn't knocked you out of the way. It kills anything living that it touches. The twisted history shows that you died in the park today and that a three month war wages between you and those Wizards, Death Eaters." James sighed again and found himself a seat near to the two babies. Piper still didn't take her eyes from them but she didn't stop him. "By the end of the fight, Wyatt is dead and Piper, in a search for revenge, utterly destroys the Death Eaters at the cost of her own magic and mind."

All three gasped at this. Chris took over. "Aunt Phoebe was the only one there along with her family and she helped us come back." He told them sadly. "Hopefully none of that will happen though. We're here to kick arse."

"Chris!" Piper snapped. "Watch your language!"

"Especially around yourself, Chris." James joked, "We wouldn't want you being corrupted just yet."

Phoebe snorted in amusement and Paige had to cover her mouth to hide her giggles as Chris glared at his boyfriend. "Very funny, James."

"Right, no magic allowed." James told them.

"What!?" Piper asked.

"I want to set up anti-apparition wards so that those Death Eaters cant just appear in the house." James told them but noticed that all three were just looking at him suspiciously. "Would it help if I let the Book of Shadows prove that I'm not evil?"

"Come on mom, he's good." Chris whinnied slightly but shut up as James grinned at him before beginning to leaf through the book. It actually took Piper, Phoebe and Paige a few moments to realise what he was doing.

"So you're not evil." Phoebe said. "That doesn't mean you don't mean us harm and I cant sense anything from either of you."

"They've probably taken that potion again." Paige suggested.

"Still here you know." Chris muttered making James laugh.

"Actually its more the fact that we both have mental shield around our minds. Magical shields under our own control." James lectured. "I could lower mine if you want to search me for ill-intent."

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Chris said worriedly but Phoebe was already nodding. "Be careful to just stay on the outside of his mind. Don't try to delve, Aunt Phoebe."

"I've been doing this for seven years, Chris. We can handle ourselves." Phoebe pointed out.

"Just to point out in Chris' defence." James spoke with a small smirk as his boyfriend groaned. "But Chris has been doing magic since he was three, that's twice as long as any of you."

"Shut up, James. You're complicating matters." Chris told him sternly.

"Are you ready, Phoebe?" James asked as he squared off to her. "I'll only allow you to see why I hate the Death Eaters and their master and also what I know of the messed up future. Don't try to seek any more."

She nodded and he lowered his shield letting her pry into his emotions and since they were tied to his memories and that they were both seers she was allowed to relive them as well. She gasped as the most recent memories of the messed up future flashed through her mind, seeing herself helping them and seeing the sight of San Francisco destroyed.

She watched the Death Eaters destroy the Motel and then try to kill James. She witnessed their attack on Chris on the beach when Chris had so nearly been killed. She stood by as Voldemort killed his relatives and then as the Wizards convicted him and locked him up with the Dementors for Voldemort's crime. Then back to watching his a man James cared about being killed by a cackling Death Eater. Of the gathering to welcome back Voldemort. She was forced to witness James' confrontations in both his first year and second year at a strange school.

James was careful to make sure he skipped over his pre-Hogwarts years but he knew she got an impression of the pain that stemmed from those years. Finally she witness the utter pain and despair that he felt as a baby as Voldemort killed his mother even though James didn't remember it himself. He gave her an impression of what he felt towards Voldemort and all of his Death Eaters because of the event and the sheer power and evil that he remembered in that flash of green light.

James came back to himself and felt drying tears on his cheeks and he glanced to the side as he wiped them away hurriedly though it was obvious that everyone had seen it since Chris was standing just behind his right shoulder, obviously not wanting to show their relationship but still wanting to support him. Phoebe wasn't dry eyed either as she glanced at her two sisters.

"He's not on their side." Phoebe told them simply and Piper and Paige both gave him slightly sad looks of pity. James suddenly felt the blood drain from his face as he thought of something awful and he turned a panicked look on Chris before facing baby Chris.

"How old is Chris?" He asked glancing at Piper briefly and waving at the small child.

"He's two years and four months." Piper said, "Why?"

"Then I'd be a year and two months." James whispered only just loud enough for them all to hear if they struggled. Chris easily caught it though and began to put things together. "It's September here right?"

Phoebe nodded as she too started to put the memories together in her mind. James turned on Chris with a horrified look. "I never thought of this, Chris. They're still alive." He almost sobbed. "I'm sorry, I cant do this."

An echoing crack rang through the room making them all jump as James vanished from sight, the pages of the book falling back into place where he'd dropped them. Chris gave them all a sad look. "He's parents are killed on Halloween this year. This hadn't even occurred to us."

"Where did he go?" Piper asked.

"I have no idea." Chris sighed. "His method of transport is instantaneous, he could be anywhere in the world by now."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**England; Godric's Hollow**

James had spent a long time sneaking through Hogsmeade looking for directions to the small magical village that his parents had lived in and it had been difficult to do since the whole town was under Martial rules and since it was only early morning it was hard to find anything useful.

Still he'd managed it by breaking through the wards of a house and searching their library and he was now crouching in the bushes around the garden of his childhood home, or at least his proper home. Luckily the wards were tuned to his younger self and therefore he wasn't considered an intruder. He noted to himself that he'd have to remember that loophole with his own wards back in the future regardless of how unlikely it would be.

A light flickered on just as the sun broke the horizon and a woman walked passed the window though all he could see was her shadow. A baby began to cry in another of the rooms and James felt a tear fall down his cheek.

He wouldn't let this happen again. His departure was accompanied by a very slight pop and the bush fell back in on itself with barely a whisper.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	17. Making a Stand

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; I'm going to pre-empt annoyed reviews by saying these simple words. You're not going to get information about Harry's parents by asking for them. If I don't tell you in the chapter then you won't find out in reviews. It will spoil everything. So please don't ask.

Chapter 17; Making a Stand.

**Halliwell Manor; 1981**

Piper Halliwell walked down her stairs sleepily. She had woken with Leo at her side which wasn't strange at all since the man rarely woke before Chris wanted to get up. She however had always been an early riser even if she spent the first ten minutes walking around in a daze. Her sisters on the other hand were completely different; Paige was always a late sleeper and needed coffee to function properly whereas Phoebe woke either early or late and was always wide awake in an instant.

Piper walked through her living room to open the front curtains to allow the morning sunlight to fill the room, like she did every morning, but because of her sleepy state she didn't notice the young man sitting on her sofa nor the fact that the curtains were already drawn back and the windows wide open.

She didn't realise this until she went to draw the curtains back and stopped as she felt the sun on her face. She frowned slightly but figured that one of her two younger sisters must have risen early for some reason though they were both hopeless at doing simple tasks like opening curtains. She brushed the situation aside and turned to make her way into the kitchen to make coffee to find herself staring at a young man sitting looking at her with an amused look on his face.

He had brown hair and deeply intriguing dark green eyes that seemed to bare everyone of her secrets for all to see. He was watching her with an amused look and it took her several moments of silence before she realised that she had met this man before. He was the one called James that had arrived with her son from the future and had saved herself and Paige in the park the day before vanishing without a trace.

"James?" She frowned wondering why he was still awake. Now that she was waking up she realised that Chris, who had slept on the couch in the attic last night, must still be asleep.

James nodded with a small smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't wake you up did I?"

"Wake me up?" She sounded shocked. "Of course not."

"You always did strike me as the get up and go type of woman in the future." James grinned at her before his face grew slightly more serious. "I apologise for my abrupt departure last night."

"Where did you go?" She asked him.

"I just went to stew over my thoughts for a while. To get over the shock." He shrugged in a rather forced way but Piper let it go. She couldn't imagine what was going on in his head right now knowing that in only a few months his parents would be killed. He snapped her out of her musing. "I hope you don't mind but I helped myself to you kettle and hot chocolate."

"I don't mind." She smiled at him as he stood and stretched his muscles in a movement that reminded her of a predator. "How long have you been up? What are you working on?" She asked glancing at the four mugs on the coffee table and the piles of strewn paper.

James moved forwards and gathered up the papers, hiding the scribblings from her too hastily. "Just a spell. I haven't slept yet." He told her honestly. Chris would realise as soon as he awoke anyway.

"Well," Piper said after deciding to ignore his hasty explanation on his work. What she had seen she hadn't been able to read at any rate. "How about I get started on a cooked breakfast and you go wake up Chris?"

James nodded slowly and turned to leave the room. He paused as she started to ask a question though she seemed to pause half way as if doubting her right to ask.

"Just ask it, Piper. It'll only eat away at you if you don't." James told her with a half smile.

"How do you know Chris?" She blurted out, her protective instincts for her youngest son, no matter how displaced, fighting against her sense of courtesy.

"I work with Paige in the future, I met him that way." James left the room before she could go into what their relationship was. He didn't know what Chris had told them and didn't want to 'out' Chris in front of his parents for a second time. Or first if you wanted to be specific. James shook his head to rid himself of paradoxical thoughts as he walked up into the attic space.

Chris was sound asleep on the rather dusty sofa. He looked rather worn and not just from the new appearance he had taken when they had woken in the changed future. James instantly regretted disappearing last night, it was obvious that Chris had stayed up worrying about it. Even if he felt guilt inside him he also felt happiness bubbling up inside of him. The fact that Chris had cared about him enough to worry so much about him truly made his heart come alive again.

James bent his knees and squatted next to Chris' head and gently gave him a kiss on the lips. "Get off me, Wyatt!" Chris mumbled sleepily as he swiped with his arm randomly. James felt his eyebrows disappear upwards. Chris obviously didn't like being woken up by his brother though he decided that Wyatt didn't wake him up this way. He leant down and gave Chris a rather more solid kiss and knew the exact moment that Chris' mind kicked into gear as his breathing hitched. James leant back quickly to avoid butting heads and Chris bolted upright.

James just smirked at his boyfriend as Chris gave him a glare. "You could have woken me up and then kissed me!" Chris grumbled out.

"And where's the fun in that?" James chuckled but lost the amused tone to his voice as Chris bolted to his feet with a serious expression on his normally clam face.

"Where were you all night?" Chris asked him.

James gulped making up in that instant to leave Chris out of this one personal problem. "I went somewhere quiet to think."

"Where?"

James just shrugged. "I was downstairs most of the night." James told him and saw Chris deflate slightly knowing that James had at least been safe. "I think I've figured out a way to contain the damage. It was hard without access to my tome but I think I've got a spell powerful enough to do it."

"Do what exactly?"

"To make sure that everyone that finds out about us in this time forgets us as soon as we leave." James told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What!?" Chris almost yelped. "Why do we have to do that?"

"As far as I can figure out we are in our actual past. Everyone that is happening actually happened the first time around. Well the second time really since you already changed it once." James grinned at him impishly before continuing. "You mum and Aunts didn't know me when we first me, nor did they know of the Wizarding World which means that we must remove the memory from them or at least look it away."

"And you've worked out a way to do it?"

"Actually, technically I told myself." James deadpanned and continued at Chris' rather annoyed look. "Well, it's complicated. I was writing a Rune sequence last night that would wipe any memory to do with us or Wizarding Magic when I remembered that when I was searching through your parents and Aunts' minds and even Wyatt's mind I found a very small block that I couldn't manipulate."

"And that means?" Chris prompted.

"I didn't understand it at the time but after writing that spell to wipe the memories I began to realise what the block was. It was stopped them from accessing certain memories and also stops me specifically from altering it in anyway." James explained. "I rewrote the spell to match it and it makes perfect sense. Once the Death Eater's are dealt with and before we head back I'll cast the spell on each of them and lock away their memories so that even I can't break into them. I've designed it to release the memories at exactly the point that we went back in time, though it'll hopefully be in the nicer future."

Chris blinked at him a couple of times before slowly shaking his head and starting to tug James towards the attic door and towards the smell of cooking sausages.

"What!?" James stammered. "What do you think?"

"It's far too early for this." James heard his boyfriend mutter under his breath and just grinned inanely at the back of the taller boy's head.

"Um Chris?" James tugged on his arm gently and was rewarded when Chris turned to face him. "What did you tell them…you know, about us?"

"Um, nothing really. Just that you're a friend of the family and that I brought you back with me because you knew how to fight the Wizards." Chris told him seriously.

"Are you going to tell them the truth at some point?" James asked with a quirk of his head to show he didn't mind either way.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter if you're going to lock away their memories." Chris sighed.

"So you're going to?"

"Do you think I should?"

"Well it would make them trust me a bit more." James pointed out but he saw Chris' rather nervous look. "But you don't want to do you?"

"Well, I kind of didn't tell them the first time." Chris winced as a memory came to mind. James just frowned at him and waited for him to continue. Chris went slightly red in the face before speaking very quietly. "When I was sixteen I was doing…stuff…in my room with my school boyfriend and Wyatt walked in on us."

James' eyes widened and he had to fight down the smile that threatened him. "What did he see?"

"Well, let's put it this way. The brotherly wonder over who grew up with the bigger…tool…was answered, for him at least." Chris went bright rage and hung his head. James could help the snicker that came out of him and hid his smile behind his hand. "He ran to blab on me to mom."

James winced slightly but he didn't lose his cheeky smile. "So you're nervous because you'd have to actually pluck up the courage to admit it?"

"Yes, Mr. Psychologist." Chris smirked up at him through his wild fringe.

James checked around the upstairs hallway before leaning forward and pecking his boyfriend on the lips. "I'm only good at children. Let's go downstairs."

James spent the day setting up basic runic protections around the house keyed in against his own Wizarding Magic so that nobody with his type of magic could enter the building with the exception of himself. Chris on the other hand spent the day with Piper and Paige scrying for Wizarding Magic using some of James' blood as a focus as Chris explained everything he could about fighting against the Death Eaters. By the time James had finished the Sisters and Chris had found nothing. When told this James just shrugged.

"I didn't expect you would." James told them seriously.

"What!?" Piper looked really angry as all three sisters squared off against him with annoyed faces. Chris just let his head fall onto his hands in annoyance. "Why didn't you tell us that? We just wasted a whole day."

James gave her a long stare. "I'm the one who knows how they fight." He told her sternly. "If you had managed to find them today you would have gotten yourself killed running in there. I had to have the house warded before you tried something otherwise we wouldn't have a place to hide afterwards."

"How do you know we'd have to hide?" Piper asked him and the two others nodded arrogantly, though they had good reason to be sure of themselves. They were feared by any in the Demon world.

James just sighed before raising his hand at Wyatt who was sitting in the corner and drew a simple Rune that had a similar effect to the Lumos charm except that it made the target glow. It was useful for lighting rooms by making an item glow or even making an opponent glow in a dark place. Wyatt's blue shield flew up around the three year old as soon as he realised that the young man he didn't trust was doing something that his mother and aunt didn't agree with.

Piper cried out as the Rune glowed with red fire before streaking out. It broke through Wyatt's shield easily and struck him in the chest. Wyatt cried out but calmed instantly as Chris moved over and lifted the now glowing child.

Piper seemed about ready to attack James now but Chris stopped her with a small shake of his head. James decided to explain why he had just attacked her eldest son even as he moved towards where Chris was standing up in a small play pen. James lifted the small boy into his arms and grinned at the happy child. He could easily see the elder Chris in his features.

"I did that with Wizarding Magic. Granted the spell is designed to penetrate almost any shield but the fact still remains, this type of magic is too different to yours for you to go in blind without a proper plan." James told them. "I'm not saying that all Wizards are more powerful than you but it's like an English football player being dropped into an American Football game. He won't know the rules and is an easy target for the opposition."

Phoebe nodded at the explanation and Paige obviously understood but Piper just stared at him warily as he held Chris in his arms easily. "You're good with children." She pointed out with a carefully controlled explanation.

"That's why I became a Child Psychologist." Harry informed her.

"I thought you worked for Paige?" Piper asked suddenly and James looked at a surprised Paige with a grin.

"I do."

"Should you be telling us things like this?" Phoebe butted in before he could be questioned.

"It doesn't really matter, I intend to blank your memories of everything about us and the Death Eaters as soon as we leave this time." James shrugged. They all looked disappointed but they obviously agreed with him. "Right, everyone sit down." James announced before sitting himself on the ground with Chris in his lap.

Chris took the armchair seat with Wyatt in his lap in case Wyatt, who had now been attacked by Harry and was still glowing, decided to raise his shield and send James into the wall again like last night. The three sisters sat together on the Sofa with ready expressions on their faces.

"You know, Chris, you're really cute as a baby." James asked with a smirk on his face. "What happened?"

"Hey!" Chris cried after a second of looking smug while the sister laughed at his expense. With the mood less tense Harry reached out with his Wicca magic and used it to forcibly remove his Wizarding Magic from the three year old brother of his boyfriend.

"Down to business. I'm going to explain to you about a few spells that I know the Death Eater's love then we'll get something to eat before we get ready for their first attack." James told them with a small smile before launching into a brief description of the spells that they may run into with special emphasis on the three Unforgivables.

They broke for dinner but before long they were in the conservatory with Leo and minus the two boys who had been put down to sleep for the night. James found himself facing three waiting Sisters and a rather bored looking boyfriend.

"They'll attack tonight." James told them.

"What?" Piper was shocked, as was the others, even Chris.

"They are used to having a Master who will torture and kill them if they take longer than necessary to complete a task or if they fail it." James explained. "They didn't attack last night because of the slight injuries they sustained when I burnt that woodland, but they'll send a small team with them tonight to attack you. Maybe one of the Inner Circle with perhaps three or four regulars to gauge your skills and whether me and Chris have risked our timelines by telling you about them."

"Inner circle?" Paige questioned.

"They look the same with their cloaks and masks on but they are basically the best of the Death Eaters, personal favourites of Voldemort; their Master." James explained ignoring the hitch in his throat at the name of the man who would kill his parents. "This is what we're going to do. We're all going to go out tonight, except for Leo who will stay to look after the boys."

"Leo can't defend the boys against the Death Eaters." Paige put in.

"He won't need to, no Wizard other than me can enter the house with my wards up." James reassured them all.

"Can't they bring them down?" Piper asked. "We've seen protection spells broken before."

"They can, but it would take too long and I'd know the instant they are affected." James assured them. "We'll go out and wait for them to attack and when they do we'll deal with them."

All three nodded but as they all rose to ready themselves James paused and addressed them again. "They won't give up unless they're dead. Are you able to kill them?"

"We vanquish Demons all the time." Paige told him with a smirk. "Of course we can."

James shared a worried look with Chris as the three sisters walked out of the room to prepare some potions. Vanquishing Demons was one thing but killing a human being, Death Eater or not, was a hard thing to cope with. James knew that Chris had never done it before and he had only killed Quirell by accident. James knew he wouldn't have a problem, he had tried to kill Lucius, Bellatrix and Draco that day on the beach without a second thought.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Golden Gate Park**

The five of them had been wandering around the wooded park for two hours now, it was almost midnight and the place was utterly dark and spooky with only the city lights glowing around them. James was the first to hear it, a small cracking sound, almost like that of a burrowing animal. James paused in his walking and heard a small hiss from within the forest to the right.

"Piper, blow up the tree." James ordered her. She only hesitated for a split second before her hands twitched and the side of the tree closest to them exploded in a flurry of wood chips. James noted dimly that two decades obviously changed their magic since in the future he had seen Piper do far more damage than that.

A cry of pain echoed in the woods and instantly the five found themselves surrounded by ten Death Eaters. James didn't waste any time before releasing one of his pre-drawn runes and letting a wave of fire erupt towards the first Death Eater who couldn't bring up a shield in time to protect himself. The fire completely engulfed him shocking everyone there into a brief period of inaction as the man screamed as his body was turned slowly into dust.

James also did nothing but only because he was evaluating his feelings. This was the first time that he had ever intentionally killed somebody and he hadn't felt any thing at all. James caught Chris' eyes and saw shock there and a slight bit of fear before they were all distracted.

James fought alongside the others as they battled against the nine remaining Death Eaters. James drew several Runes throughout the battle to do serious damage while Chris made sure that nobody got the upper hand against any of them. There was a main difference between this battle and the ones he had faced against Death Eaters before. Nobody was shooting to wound, it was kill or die trying.

James took out another three Death Eaters with the same Rune that he had used at the start of the battle and another with a stab of lightning that blinded them all as it tore apart one of the Death Eaters' chest and killed him instantly. The sisters were having less luck than James though since most of their active powers could be blocked by the Wizard's shields. Piper did manage to blow up a few of their wands but it wasn't till there was only four of them remaining after Chris crushed one of their hearts with his telekinesis that a joint attack from the three sisters using potions blew a hole in the side of one of the Death Eaters.

The Inner Circle member that James knew was Lucius Malfoy and the last two Death Eaters apparated away leaving their wounded comrade on the ground. James made his way over to the wounded Death Eater who was scrambling for his wand which was lying just out of reach. James picked the Ebony wand up with two fingers and crouched beside the man. He toyed with removing the mast from his face but figured that there would be no point in the end.

"**_Contundu!"_** James hissed with venom as he focused on the man already damaged ribs and knew when he heard the sickening crack that the man's ribs had pierced his lungs and heart. He saw the life fade from the man's eyes and stood again.

"You didn't tell us that they were mortals!" Piper seemed rather shaken. Chris was giving him a serious look while other two were looking at the two dead bodies with sick looks on their faces.

"What did you expect?" James said calmly as he set fire to the three bodies with the wand and watched as they turned to ashes.

"Demons." Paige choked out. "We're not murderers."

James' eyes turned hard and he saw Chris brace himself slightly. He'd never seen that look before but his Aunt Paige had seen it when dealing with the parents who abused their children. "We're not murderers!" James snapped. "These men torture, rap and kill innocent people. Children, women even babies! They deserve this death."

"So that gives you the right to decide whether to kill mortals or not?" Phoebe stepped forwards but James just backed away from her.

"We gave those five a quicker death then they have given their own victims!" James told them seriously. "They'll keep coming for you until they are all dead, they have no way to return to the future so have nothing to lose. I'll kill all of them one by one if I have to."

"James they didn't mean to call you a murderer." Chris stepped up to his side with a stern look at his mother and aunts and spoke to them in their turn. "Remember I killed one too."

"I can feel your pain at having to do it though, Chris." Phoebe put in with a careful look at James. "I only feel a need for revenge from him and it worries me."

Chris looked at James with the same careful gaze that they had shared after he had killed the first Death Eater. James shook his head slightly before disappearing with a crack.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**San Francisco Bay**

James sat on the edge of a low cliff that looked out across the Bay mouth across the Golden Gate Bridge and to the brightly lit spires of down town San Francisco. He'd been sitting there for a good half an hour staring out across the rough seas. His mind was racing like it hadn't since escaping Azkaban. There was so much turmoil in his mind; killing those Death Eaters, being accused of being a murderer in front by the Sisters and even the stare that Chris had given him that had caused the only regret he had felt for killing them.

He really wished that things wouldn't only get worse from here on in.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	18. Facing up to choices

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 18; Facing up to choices.

**Halliwell Manor**

James apparated straight into the attic of the Charmed One's home late into the night. His accompanying crack startled the person sleeping on the sofa into the land of the living. James staggered forwards rather blindly in the dark but he could easily make out Chris's form and naked chest in the street light coming through the window.

James' rather uncoordinated form kicked the corner of the table and he stumbled to his knees just as strong hands grabbed him around his torso to steady him. "Christ, James!" Chris gasped. "What happened to you?"

James frowned in confusion before glancing down at his arms and legs. He was drenched through and very cold but he didn't see what Chris' problem was. "Where have you been!?" Chris continued, "It's not raining out!"

"It is in England." James slurred and he tried to stand before promptly collapsing again though this time he was lowered carefully down onto the sofa.

"Have you been drinking?" Chris gasped in shock having never even seen James drink alcohol in more than the smallest amount. "You're drunk! Where have you been?"

James, even drunk, knew that it was better not to tell this hunk the full truth. "Been to the pub. Might as well go to England if everyone thinks I'm a murderer."

"Oh god, James." Chris gasped before sitting beside James. He pulled James soaked and cold back against his bare chest and pulled James along with him as he leaned back to lie down fully. He tugged James' jacket and shirt off as he spoke. "I don't think you're a murderer."

"Yeah, you do! Saw your eyes." James blurted out without thinking.

"I was shocked because I saw how angry you were, you've never wanted to hurt a fly and then suddenly you couldn't kill them quickly enough." Chris told him honestly. "Why do you hate them so much, and don't tell me it's just because of your parents or even what you told me of your encounters with them because that isn't enough!"

James sobered up slightly at the questioning and shivered violently but not because of the cold. His chest seized up and he rolled to the side so that he was wedged between Chris and the back of the chair. He idly toyed with Chris' chest as he spoke. When his voice came out it was barely more than a whisper.

"I was in Azkaban for eighteen months but I witnessed Voldemort's life whenever he was feeling emotions." James' voice became clearer with every word and every tear that fell from his face onto his boyfriend's chest. The effect of his drunkenness was the only thing that made him speak though; it would have been too painful otherwise. "Every time he went on a raid with his Death Eaters I'd have to see it, as if I was him. I felt what he felt and it was disgusting."

"What did you feel?" Chris asked softly.

"Elation, arousal, disgust of the victims." James sobbed. "Enjoyment, everything. I saw them raping, torturing and killing them and I had to like it."

Chris pulled James to him and kissed the top of his head. "The fact you hated it is exactly why you're different to them."

"They deserve to die, Chris!" James said resolutely. "To avenge those they killed, to stop them doing it again, and to stop them from hurting you and you family."

"I know, and so do my mum and Aunts now." Chris sighed. "I had a go at them."

"You can't understand properly, none of you can." James was getting sleepy, "Not until you have to witness it."

Chris wanted to ask more but James' warm breath had started to take on a steady slow brush against his skin and he knew his troubled boyfriend had succumbed to his drunken state and slipped off into sleep. He sighed and put his arms around James' cold torso and resolved to stay awake to guard James against his nightmares.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning**

Chris pulled the blankets over James and tucked him in firmly before kissing his forehead. James had a fever, probably a side effect of getting drunk, getting soaked and cold and then apparating long distance. Chris knew how apparating felt and he wouldn't want to try it whilst even tipsy, let alone full out drunk.

Chris sighed before leaving the attic, he closed the door with a click and headed down to the kitchen. He wasn't surprised to find his mother and aunts sitting around the table. Wyatt was standing against Aunt Phoebe's chair while Aunt Paige held himself. He shook his head as he stared at the small baby.

"I still cant believe that's me." He muttered making the three jump. Looking at them all he noted their anxious expressions and tired faces. "Didn't sleep well?"

"Not really, kept having nightmares about the Wizards." Phoebe admitted without looking up at him. Chris sighed, he knew they were talking about the way James had killed them.

He plopped himself down on an empty chair and lifted Wyatt onto his lap when his brother requested it. "You think you have it bad?" He started once he had all of their attention. "James has his reasons for wanting them dead and don't think that you can get rid of these Wizards without killing them." He added when his Aunt Paige opened her mouth. "They are worse than Demons."

"How can Wizards be worse than Demons?"

"Demons kill because it is their nature but they don't rape, beat and torture their victims for no reason other than pleasure." Chris spoke quietly but they all heard him. "They don't deserve to have your pity and eventually you will have to decide whether you are going to help us to kill them or whether you will just sit at the side and wait for them to get to Wyatt and my younger self."

"Has he been tortured by them?" His mom asked him.

Chris flinched slightly, "I don't really know how bad the things that have happened to him first hand. "We…I mean you three, myself and Wyatt, stopped an attack when the Wizards were torturing him under the Cruciatus."

The three frowned having remembered the spell from yesterday's explanation. "So one time under the torture curse and he wants revenge against them all." His mom raised an eyebrow.

"He's doing this to protect us, our family." Chris told her sharply, "You didn't have to witness the future like we did."

"I still don't understand what could be so bad that he'd kill them like that." His mom countered calmly, used to having to justify actions in her seven year war.

Chris sighed knowing that he'd have to speak of what James had admitted to him last night. "I'm only telling you this because he trusts you in the future and because you wont be able to understand otherwise. He was locked up by the 'Light Wizards' after being framed for his Aunt, Uncles and Cousin's murders by the 'Dark Wizards' and he was forced to witness the Dark Wizards every time their leader joined a raid."

"A raid?" Phoebe asked with a horrified look.

"They go out a target a random family or a Wizard or Witch that they don't like and they torture, rape and kill every member of the family." Chris spoke quietly but his words were heard as if they the tolling of a death bell.

All three had gone pale. "I cant say that I agree with their deaths though." Piper put in though she seemed more accepting to James.

"I don't expect you to." James' voice from the door made everyone in the room jump up. Wyatt's shield sprung up around him and Chris but James just eyed it for a second. "You might if you are force to witness it but until then I accept the fact that you cant kill Mortals without dire need and I understand that you three and even Chris will always want to stun them over killing them. All I ask is that you understand why I would see them permanently stopped."

"We get it." Piper put in. "But why not just imprison them?"

"They have escaped before and I don't think the past will be safe until their lives aren't in it anymore." James sighed pressing his fingers into his temples obviously trying to push down his hangover. Chris took pity on him and handed the now unshielded Wyatt to his mother before standing and passing James a glass of water. James nodded before walking out of the second kitchen door and into the back garden.

"What's wrong with him?" Phoebe asked.

"Hangover." Chris grumbled.

"Really?" Piper looked shocked.

"You'll get used to dealing with kids with hangovers." Chris smirked with a look at the baby version of his older brother. "He apparated to England, and came back drunk, cold and wet."

"He went drinking in England?" Paige asked with a frown, Chris nodded with a curious look at her suspicious tone. "If he left here at two last night it would have only been four in the afternoon there. How did he get so drunk, let alone soaked and cold? It would have been daytime there."

Chris frowned and glanced out of the door where James was sitting on a garden chair nursing the glass of water. "_He obvious did drink but it must have been in this country. Why then did he go to England?"_

Chris shook the foreboding feeling off before turning his attention back to his mother and aunts. He finished eating his breakfast before piling a small amount on a plate so that he could force his boyfriend to eat something even though he knew James wouldn't want anything with his hangover.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

James stared into the flowerbed breathing in the fresh scent of life. He never got enough of that smell after eighteen months on the dead island that was Azkaban. He lost himself in the blur of green as memories of Azkaban replayed over in his mind. The worst by far was the induced dream of the slaughter of an Orphanage. Tom Riddle's childhood home.

It was the worst of his memories and he had had nightmares about all of the orphans as they were raped or beaten, and sometimes both before they were killed. For once Voldemort hadn't bothered to burn the evidence, instead letting the Mortal police discover the slaughter.

"James!" Chris' voice almost made him fall back off of the chair, his panther reflexes stopped him though. "What were you thinking about? I've been trying to get your attention for the last minute." Chris tilted James' head up to look at him as he placed the plate of food on the bench beside him. "Why are you crying?"

James flinched before wiping his eyes fiercely. That memory was one of the only things that could still bring tears to his eyes. "You _really_ don't want to know." James told him. Chris went to protest so James continued. "I was thinking about the worst memory that I have."

"Ok." Chris drew the word out. "I don't want to know." James smiled at him sadly. "Don't think that I wont listen to it though if you need to talk to someone about it."

"Thanks love." James nodded.

"Love?" Chris raised his eyebrow but there was a small smile tugging at his lips.

James looked down. "Well…yeah. I mean, I don't have to call you that. I just…" James stuttered and his hands began to shake.

"It's ok, I love you too." Chris gently placed his hand under James' chin and lifted his face so that their eyes could meet. James smiled in relief before leaning in. Chris met him half way and James let himself be consoled by the love filled kiss.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Death Eater Safe House**

"Crabbe! Goyle! Jacobson, you're coming with me!" Draco Malfoy snapped as he put his silver mask on over his face.

"Our orders were to lay low." Jacobson argued.

"Are you questioning my orders, Jacobson?" Draco pulled his wand and snapped out a quick burst of the Cruciatus curse. Jacobson collapsed to his knees but the curse was ended before he could let out a scream. "Follow me."

With that a stir-crazy Draco Malfoy apparated out to a Muggle's house in the suburbs of San Francisco for some fun, not knowing that he wouldn't live long enough to be punished by his father and aunt.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

James took the crystal and slashed his arm with its pointed tip to that blood seeped onto it. He handed it to Phoebe as Chris placed his hand on his arm to heal him.

"Explain this to us again?" Paige asked as she sat beside the table. "How is this going to not just hone in on you?"

"Because my Whitelighter hid me from any form of scrying, Wizarding or Wicca." James told them. "Without me to find it will search out any form of Wizarding Magic since our blood is infused with it whereas yours isn't."

"But wont it just land on England?" Piper joined the conversation. "I mean, that's where the best match for your magic and blood is right?"

Chris glared at his mother for bringing James' parents into the debate but James stopped him from arguing with her by speaking. "That's what the Runes are for." He gestured to the glowing runes that sat at all four corners of the map so that they encircled the city of San Francisco. "They keep the search within the City, the crystal will find any Wizarding activity from the Death Eaters."

They sat there for five minutes as Phoebe swung the crystal gently over the map before it reacted. It dragged her hand to the side as the Crystal landed on a street only four blocks from the Manor.

James went pale as he recognised the residential area. He stood up knocking the table slightly as he did. "What's wrong?" Chris asked him.

"It's a raid!" James told them as his hands shook uncontrollably. "I have to go. Now!"

"A raid?" Chris gasped before grabbing potions bottles off of the table. "Oh god."

"Chris." James turned on him and all three of the sisters. "You don't have to come on this one."

"I'm not letting you go alone." Chris told him bluntly and James knew there wasn't any point in arguing.

"Why not?" Piper asked addressing James with a suspicious glare.

"You wont like what you see." James told them simply before apparating away. All four disappeared as Chris followed and Paige orbed herself and her sisters to the house on the map.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Mortal House; San Francisco**

James apparated into the house with a crack making the four Death Eaters jump and cower away in fear that James was one of the other Inner Circle members. When they saw his black jeans and short-sleeved shirt however they regained their courage and aimed their wands at him.

"**Expelliarmus!" **Draco Malfoy's voice was obvious to James and he let the disarming hex hit him squarely and with no effect. James held his hands out to the sides to show he didn't have a wand. Draco smirked. "Surrender then."

"I don't think so, Malfoy." James snarled as he glanced at the Muggles in the corner and felt his fury rising and fuelling his magic. It was obvious by the state of the boy and girl that Malfoy had cast an Imperius curse on the boy and forced him to rape his own sister. The two parents were trapped under body binds but James could tell from their eyes that they had been tortured under the Cruciatus Curse.

The boy and girl were sobbing in a huddle in the corner and their parents eyes were torn between looking at James and looking at their children.

"Potter!" Draco snapped with a small amount of shock.

"Obviously." James drawled just as two sets of orbs appeared behind him and Chris and the sisters appeared. "I'm not letting you out of here. Piper, aim for their wands."

Piper hesitated in shock as she stared at the mortal family in the corner. Chris was the first to recover out of the four of them and he snapped out his hand and sent one of the Death Eater's wands flying across the room. The sisters' eyes hardened and they attacked as one. Piper blew up another's wand before he could react while Paige sent a lamp sailing through the air to distract Draco.

Phoebe threw her own potion and the bright flash blinded everyone without Wicca Magic in the room. James was impressed by the potion since the sisters couldn't have had more than a few hours to work out the potion.

A cutting hex flew towards them and Chris and Phoebe were forced to dive out of the way even though neither of them knew what the spell was. Even though only two of the four Wizards still had their wands they were still doing a good job standing against the five of them though James wasn't really doing much. Draco sent a Cruciatus at James and he rolled under the spell and came up by the window.

He lashed out with his hand and hit one of the unarmed wizards across the throat before sketching an air purifying Rune to surround the now unconscious Death Eater. It only took a split second to set the Rune to filter out any oxygen. Not a pleasant way to die but at least the Death Eater wouldn't feel it in his unconscious state.

James, standing at the side of the battle, had gone unnoticed as he did this and he was impressed to see that Chris had sent a shard of glass from the broken window into the chest of the second unarmed Death Eater after he had tried to use his larger weight to tackle Paige.

James started writing a complex rune grateful that Chris and the sisters were keeping Draco and the slimmer of the three lesser Death Eaters busy since it meant he could write the Rune in peace. It wasn't one that he had written before since it needed a target to work. A ring of ten Runes were traced from his finger tips and they flashed as they began to spin. James aimed the centre of the blurring sequence at the lesser of the two Death Eaters.

An unfamiliar Rune was formed from the glow of the spinning sequence and as the air between the Death Eater and the rune, his personal rune that the rune sequence had discovered forcefully, began to shimmer and the rune grew brighter with each second as the Death Eater began to get tired and weak. James could cut the spell off at any time and leave the target weakened but he had no intention of doing so this time.

Even though a string of shimmering air connecting James' rune sequence to the Death Eater was visible the others were too busy to see it. The first clew they got was when the Death Eater stopped sending spells into the battle and shortly after simply dropped his wand and sagged to the ground as the last of his life was leeched out of his body. This, unlike the purifying rune was completely painless. The victim just fell to sleep and never woke again.

Draco stared at his fallen comrades for a second in shock and then up at his five enemies with a slight hint of fear in his eyes. He seemed to make the decision not to run and James knew that it was because he knew, like James knew, that the four Wicca witches didn't really know how to protect themselves from most of his spells. He could up the level of his spells and push the four of them back. He was still outnumbered though and even as James saw the glint in his eyes he knew that Draco had decided to try to even the odds in a way that nobody could block. The next few moments of James' life seemed to last a whole day as Draco took aim at Chris and opened his mouth and spoke the fatal words.

"**Avada Kadavra!"**

The green light shot from Draco's wand so fast that the sisters could only cry out in shock. Chris' eyes widened but he was too slow to try to orb out or even orb enough to save his life. James though was faster. A series of four cracks echoed through the room as he did the impossible; Multiple Apparition.

He apparated across the room appearing again with his hands around Chris before the two of them dissapparated again and reappeared between Draco and the Mortal family. Chris collapsed to the ground as a wave of dizziness overwhelmed him. James rounded on Draco in a rage and clicked his fingers rather unnecessarily. Draco who was looking at him didn't see the blast that erupted from the single Rune left from James' previous sequence.

It was designed to be absorbed by James which was one of the purposes of the spell but since Draco was between him and the Rune it travelled straight through him to reach James. The effect wasn't physically noticeable on the outside but the surge of magic designed for James' system overloaded Draco's internal organs and ruptured his magical core killing him instantly.

James watched without feeling as Draco's body hit the ground and didn't even noticed the slightly lessened magic being absorbed into his body refilling it from his bout of multiple apparition. He felt Chris grab his wrist and looked down at his slightly older boyfriend. Chris smiled before tugging slightly, James obliged and pulled him up.

"What was that?" Chris gasped. "Why do I feel so dizzy?"

"Multiple apparition, it's supposed to be impossible to map out a second jump before taking the first." James shrugged slightly. "Is everyone ok?"

The three sisters glanced at him from their place on the ground with the mortals and nodded solemnly. There was a glint in their eyes, especially Paige's and Piper's as they consoled the two young children who had been forced to do things that should never happen to an adult let alone two seven year old. James only hoped that given enough time they would be able to put it behind them since it had happened at such a young age.

"I can't get them to move." Phoebe told him. She was trying to get the distraught parents to move again but they were still in a full body bind.

James frowned knowing that he wouldn't be able to reverse the spell with his current knowledge of Runes, he only knew a few wards and attacks but not healing spells or counter curses. His Wicca magic wasn't going to be precise enough either.

He stepped forwards and scooped the slim Death Eater's wand from the floor and aimed it at the two mortals. Fear shone in their eyes and James found himself hoping that the Death Eaters hadn't created another version of the Dursleys. "**Finite!"** His voice was barely above normal level but the two Mortal's flinched violently. Satisfied that the general counter-charm had worked on them both he turned the wand on the four bodies.

"**Accio Bone Masks." **The four masks slipped off of their owners faces and James was shocked to see Gregory Goyle with a shard of glass coming from his chest and Vincent Crabbe peacefully lying under the window. Their leader was the expected Draco but the fourth wasn't one that he knew and he didn't find that he cared.

"**Evanesco!"** James stated focusing on each of the bodies individually as he repeated the spell. They began to fade before vanishing completely. He decided that the Mortals didn't need to see the reminder of their torture lying on their living room floor.

Chris was looking at him with a raised eyebrow whilst the sisters just seemed shocked. Their wasn't any shock over the deaths though and James wondered if seeing the type of thing that the Death Eaters did for fun would be enough to get them to fight this battle with their entire hearts and not just because their son was asking them to.

James looked over the mortals but the fear in the eyes of the adults made him shudder. They might accept the Wicca witches but James had used one of the torturers wands and that was enough to make them scared of him. "I'll meet up with you later." James muttered to Chris.

"Where are you going to go?" Chris spun on him in concern, probably imagining the night before.

"I have a few things I need to do to end this war." James told him.

Chris frowned but accepted it at face value taking the meaning of war to be the one between themselves and the future Death Eaters. James apparated out with another crack and reappeared straight in the middle of Diagon Alley. At least in this world he was anonymous and he'd be able to stop the war and not the one that Chris was thinking about either.

XOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	19. Facing the Future

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 19; Facing the future

****

Halliwell Manor; 1st November 4am

James slid into the hallway in his panther form, a form he hadn't taken in this time yet and he slinked silently along the hallway towards the stairs but he was stopped by a shocked gasp at the top of said stairs. He swung his head around and looked at Paige with bright eyes before he launched himself at her and pinned her against the floor. He was working out whether to change into his human form so that he could use his powers of suggestion against her when he realised that the fall had knocked her unconscious. He slunk off down the stairs after checking that she'd wake up in a few hours with nothing more than a headache.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

7am

Chris had been very solemn for the last day knowing what was about to happen and had tried to keep James in his sights throughout the day. Things had gone quiet in the last two weeks and apart from James' assurances that two members of the Inner Circle were still out there with one minion they believed that they were out of the woods. He pushed himself up but didn't find James on the bedding on the floor that they kept up for the sake of hiding Chris' and James' relationship but it hadn't been slept it yet again.

Chris sighed before pushing himself out of bed and pulling on a change of clothes and brushing the sleep from his eyes. He made his way down from the attic before receiving a shock. First he saw her hand and then her arm before finally his unconscious Aunt Paige's head. He dashed to her side even as he called out.

"Mum! Aunt Phoebe!" Chris yelled as he felt for a pulse and no sooner started healing her when the two others ran out to join them. Paige gasped as her eyes shot open and she bolted up fast enough to nearly butt heads with Chris. "What happened? Did something attack you?"

She frowned at them all before glancing around to get her bearings. "I could've sworn…" She trailed off.

"You could have sworn…what?" Chris ushered her along getting a worse feeling with every moment that passed.

"A Panther attacked me." Chris almost yelped in shock.

"Why would James attack you?" Chris asked as if they knew what he was talking about.

"What are you talking about, Chris? I said a Panther, not James." Paige asked.

"James can turn into a Panther. He must have been sneaking out and you found him." Chris told them before helping her up. "Did you see where it went?"

"No, he just pounced on me and I hit my head. I must have been knocked out." Paige sighed. "Why would he do that? We've all gotten on fine for the last two weeks."

"I don't think he meant to." Chris staggered as he remembered the date, or more importantly the date it still was in England. Everything slowly clicked into place all the way from his first disappearance, his drunken return, his hoarding of random potions that the sisters had used against Demon's since their arrival and more importantly his dead eyes and his blatant refusal to give Chris a straight answer about what he was doing. "Oh god, Mum, what time is it in England?"

"What…? Chris?" Piper stammered before frowning. "About eleven pm. It'll still be Halloween over there."

"Oh god, he's trying to save his parents!" Chris almost collapsed right then and there with that confirmation of his fears.

"What?" His mum gasped. "How?"

"He's going to use everything he's learnt to try and kill Voldemort before he can kill his parents." Chris gasped and in an instant he thought of everything that would be forced to change for the good and the bad. "We've got to go, now!"

"Let us just change and grab some potions and we'll go." His mum vanished into her room to speak to Leo and change even as the others did the same. Chris wrung his hands together as he waited in the hallway picturing everything that was happening to his boyfriend right at that moment. As soon as his mum came out of her rooms he grabbed her and hoisted her forward. "We have to hurry!" He yelled down the corridor not caring if he woke either himself or Wyatt.

"Why are you so worried, Chris?" Piper asked. "James can handle himself, we all know that."

"But not against Voldemort, I promised I wouldn't let him face Voldemort alone. James will be too scared and he'll get hurt." Chris told her with tears pooling in his eyes. "I promised him."

"Chris." Piper forced her son to look at her. "Tell me the truth. Why do you care about him so much, why promise him something like that?"

"I love him, mum." Chris gasped out as he sagged slightly. "I can't let him get hurt. I wanted to give him dad's promise ring."

"Oh, Chris." His mum hugged him and Chris found himself wondering exactly why he had been so worried about telling them all he was gay when James had asked him about it before. He figured that James had never had to face parents with that sort of problem but he knew he'd take having parents over ease any time.

"We're ready!" Phoebe announced. "How are we going to find him?" Chris went rock stiff in panic, he hadn't even thought beyond going. He didn't know how to find him.

"Oh god, he's still protected from scrying!" Chris gasped before he thought of something that in his wildest dreams he wouldn't have thought of if it wasn't so serious a situation. "Gemma! I know you can hear me! Get down here!"

"Wait, Chris, who's Gemma?" Piper asked him.

"James' Whitelighter in the future." Chris told her.

"But why are you calling her?" Paige frowned, "He told us he was protected even from his Whitelighter."

"Because his younger self isn't." Chris told them before yelling out again just as orbs filled the middle of the hallway.

"The Charmed Ones." Gemma looked around at the three sisters before looking at Chris. "Why did you call me?"

"I need you to take us to Harry Potter." Chris told her uncaring to her shocked look. Not even the other Whitelighters knew of the name of that charge.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Godric's Hollow; Midnight

James hid in the same bush as before as Voldemort appeared with a crack on the front lawn of the small two story cottage. He instantly began walking towards the door and James felt his blood boil. He was about to push himself out of his cover to confront the man when a hand clamped down on his shoulder and spun him around. He fell onto his back in shock as he came face to face with Chris, Piper, Phoebe and Paige.

"How did you…?"

"Gemma brought us to Harry Potter as soon as we found Paige on the floor this morning." Chris explained quietly as he sunk onto his knees next to James. "Why did you come here?"

"I have to help them." James' voice cracked and he flinched so much when the sound of a door exploding met their ears that two potions fell from his hand.

"Lily!" A man's voice cried from inside the house. "Take James and run! He's here!"

James tried to stand but Chris just forced him down with his hand. "Please, Chris, let me do something!" James' pleading almost had the sisters helping him. Tears were streaming down James and Chris' faces at the sounds of a battle inside the house.

"You can't James. Think of what you'll change." Chris sighed.

"I'll have a family!" James snapped as he threw out his hand and sent Chris twisting up in the air as Wicca magic tossed him away. James stood up and all four Halliwells could feel the magic rolling off of him in waves of hot energy. "I'll have a normal life. I wont be beaten by my relatives! Betrayed by my friends!"

"James." Chris stepped right up to James ignoring the magic rippling around him. "What about everything else? I hate what happened to you, you know that, but what will happen to everyone else without you there to help us. He'll still come back and he'll still join up with the Underworld but you wont be there to help us and we'll all die."

"I'd help you still." James sobbed as he realised it was fruitless, he might be emotional but he wasn't clueless.

"No, James, because we'd never meet, we'd never have fallen in love." Phoebe and Paige gasped at his words but they all saw the magic collapse back into James. Tears were pouring freely from James' eyes and he was shaking. He nodded very slightly as he resigned himself to what was happening.

"Avada Kadavra!" The sound of rushing air met their ears and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Chris was forced to watch the life fade from James' eyes just like the life had faded from James' father's body. Forced to watch as a piece of James' soul and determination died away as his worst memory was lived in front of him and not just replayed.

"James, please look at me." Chris begged as he tried to get James' eyes to focus on him but it was like he was dead to the world as he was drawn to what was happening to the world within the house. His eyes took on a white glint and his vision shifted to that of the Life Stream as he had called it and with his Premonition Powers and Power of Suggestion he found his mother standing over his cot with himself in it and the man that he hated beyond all things.

James didn't even hear the series of three pops as three Death Eaters appeared on the lawn in front of the house but it tore everyone's attention off of himself. Chris glanced between the three new arrivals who weren't even wearing their masks and to his boyfriend trying to decide.

"We can deal with them, Chris." His mom told him before moving passed Chris and his frozen boyfriend with her two sisters. "Just get him out of here before more damage is done. Nobody should have to live through this more than once."

Phoebe obviously agreed with her remembering the memory of this very event that James had shown her that first time to prove his loyalty wasn't with the very man that was now no more than twenty metres from them. They stepped out to confront the three Death Eaters with a resolve they had never felt before. They could kill these especially after that family had been so brutally tortured two weeks ago. Piper would make sure they died for the shell of a man that her son loved. The man that had forced himself to listen to his father's death in order to save her future family.

Piper felt her magic bubble up inside her and threw in every emotion she had into her magic from the memories she hated to remember like finding Prue dead and hearing of Chris' death to the good memories like Wyatt and Chris' birth. She threw it all into one attack at the back of the nearest of the three that had come back in time to kill her family and the explosion took out the windows of the first floor as a scream rended the air in two. For the first time a Wizard exploded to her powers and his ashes scattered to the air as the other two span around on their heels with wands out.

"No!" The scream from the upstairs window sent chills down the three sister's spin and Piper couldn't imagine what listening to his mother's last scream of despair was doing to James.

"Avada Kadavra!" Another body hit the floor and Piper felt her heart break hoping that Chris had gotten James out of here so he hadn't heard his mother's death.

"Sectumsempre!" Piper was ducking even as the man in front of her tried to cast a spell at her and tossed an explosion at his feet. She knew she didn't have time to draw up enough emotion to explode him like she had with the other. He staggered backwards and all three tossed the three parts of the potion that had destroyed the Source of all Evil. His face showed pain for the instant before he too exploded.

"We call the power of all before us,

channel to us all of your power,

so that we may scour this enemy to dust,

And never again be forced to cower."

Piper let her own love for her sons chose the words as she spoke them drawing not only on the power of three but all of their line. Magic snapped through the air before pummelling into the woman before them who simply burst into flames and exploded just like a Demon.

"Avada Kadavra!" Piper, Phoebe and Paige all stared up at an upstairs window as another rushing sound met their ears before a sharp green flash. A bright white light flowed from the window and burst through newly formed cracks in the top floor of the building. It seemed to build up before it flashed green and the upper portion of the building exploded outwards in all directions.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

A few moments before

Chris grabbed onto James' arm as soon as he saw his mother explode one of the Death Eaters. He'd come back to help his mother and aunts kill the last of the threat but for now he couldn't let James hear anything more. He turned to orbs but as soon as he tried to take James with him a sharp jolt ran through him and he found himself appearing again just as he struck a tree.

He groaned as he realised that whatever James was doing was stopping him from moving. Magic flared again around James at the distant sound of another Killing Curse claiming his mother and Chris felt the pain tear into him. "Please, James!" Chris pleaded as he came up in front of his boyfriend. "Let me take you somewhere away from here."

Chris looked up into James' eyes just in time to hear the last Killing Curse, the one that would strike Harry Potter.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James was oblivious to Chris' words as he watched his mother vanish from his sight, her life didn't even fade but rather vanished. He focused on the smaller form of himself and felt it in his core what he had to do. He knew what had happened all those years ago. He started pushing his magic into his small form, using this sight to guide it into Harry Potter's very life. He didn't hear the words from Voldemort but he knew the second he was hit by the Killing Curse as his sight was washed out by his own magic as it forced the killing curse away from himself and straight back into Voldemort taking the top of the building with it.

He slammed back into his own body and felt himself crumple as his world blacked out.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Halliwell Manor

James woke up feeling like he had lost something dear to him and unfortunately a moment later he worked out what that thing was. His parents. Once again they were dead but and he felt the sudden urge to speak to them and find out if there was anything he should have done to save them. He did realised that he couldn't do it now since it had only been a few hours since their death and it wouldn't exactly be good for them to be confronted with him now.

James looked around the empty attic before sliding his feet off of the chair. He didn't particularly feel tired but a part of him felt like they had won a victory. He stood and headed for the kitchen since he could hear voices coming up from there. Stares greeted him as soon as he stepped through the door and he didn't even notice as he passed Wyatt standing against the door with Paige and the boy didn't bring up his shield. He mindlessly lifted a watching baby Chris from his playpen and the boy hugged his arms around James' neck making him smile ever so slightly.

"Good morning, James." Piper greeted him though there was a worried edge to her voice. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired but I'll be ok."

"They took out the last of the Death Eaters and Paige and Phoebe helped me whip up the return potion to get us back to the future." James sat in the seat opposite Chris as he spoke and watched his lined features silently.

"I'm really sorry about what I did last night, Chris. I wasn't thinking properly." James apologised. Chris' head flew up to look at him.

"That's not what I was thinking. It isn't your fault that you wanted to save your parents!" Chris cried out. "I just regret stopping you like that. I should've noticed earlier. I should've paid more attention to how you were feeling instead of focusing everything on my own family. It was selfish of me."

"Selfish of you?" James frowned. "Chris, it was me that wanted to write a happier future for myself without caring about what it would do to everyone else. Including me and you."

"What happened exactly last night?" Paige asked to break the silence as Chris just stared at James across the table.

"I saved myself." James sighed. "That Killing Curse was going to kill me, no matter what ancient spells my headmaster fantasised about. I fed my life into that of the younger me and it saved him from the curse and forced it back. By making the killing curse flee instead of the life."

"But shouldn't that of killed you?" Leo asked from Chris' side and James realised that the man had probably been comforting Chris for most of the day.

"Well, normally it probably would but I wasn't feeding my life into somebody else, it was going into me. One big cycle over twenty years." James told him with confidence.

"Ouch, that's confusing." Paige pointed out from her corner with Wyatt.

"Well I wouldn't worry about it since you won't remember any of this after we leave." James tried to smile at her but couldn't manage it. He was only coping because he knew that what had happened _had _to have happened.

"Ah!" Paige whined. "Are you sure you couldn't leave us with a tidbit?"

"Like what?" James asked honestly actually considering it.

"Like our baby nephew is gay?" Paige smirked at Chris who banged his head on the table rather loudly.

"Oh, you know I would but the way you eventually find out is _so_ much more interesting." This time the smile was evident especially as Chris' head snapped up to his and he tried to launch himself across the table to silence his boyfriend. James just jumped backwards and held baby Chris up in front of him. "Save me from yourself, Chris!"

The sisters laughed at his joke and after a while Chris settled down though the glare on his features was still there. "Sorry Paige," James told him. "I can't leave any weaknesses in the spell otherwise I might work a way through it in the future before the right time. Don't worry, by the time we get back to the future you'll have remembered everything about this."

"When are you going back to anyway?" Leo asked.

James glanced at Chris who chose to explain the potion to him. "It works by us concentrating of when we want to go to. There might be a slight variation though."

"We'd better aim for a week before your cousins go back to school then, August 21st. That way if he undershoot we won't overlap with ourselves and it will give these guys time to sort through the memories without us there to comment on anything." James told them all.

"I've already removed all trace that we were here and I have the potion to create the portal and a spare in case we screw it up but apart from that there isn't anything else to do." Chris told them.

James nodded and surrendered baby Chris to his father so he could begin the spell that he had memorised so carefully over the passed five weeks. He started tracing Runes into the air over the table only half listening as Chris said his farewells to his parents, his aunts, his toddler brother and baby self. James sighed as he finished and after giving Chris a nod he activated it with a click. The Rune Matrix he had created burst out in all directions absorbing into firstly Leo at the table, then Wyatt, Paige, Phoebe and finally Piper before it went out even further to ensure that James hadn't missed anybody.

"They'll be like that for a while so let's go before they wake up." James moved off towards the door letting Chris leave a slightly worrying baby Chris in his playpen. They went up to the attic of the suddenly silent house and Chris chucked the potion bottle at the wall where he'd already drawn out a Triquetra in chalk. The space filled with the familiar blue portal. "I can't believe we actually did it."

"Of course we did, I just wish it hadn't cost you so much." Chris sighed sounding utterly defeated.

"I've gained so much more than I could ever lose just by knowing you and I'm sure my parents would agree that you should have stopped me." James told him before grabbing his arm. "I love you, Chris, and I'd do it again just to stay right where I am."

Chris leaned down slightly and James leaned up to steal a long lingering kiss. James' right hand found the small of Chris' back even as Chris' spare hand found the back of his neck. "I love you too, James." Chris told him with a smile and another peck on the lips before the two walked through the glowing portal and back to their actual reality completely repaired of the damage done by the Death Eaters.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	20. An Alliance

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 20; An Alliance

Halliwell Manor - Present Day

James and Chris looked around the attic. Chris was looking for signs of the screwed up future while James was appraising it for dangers. James glanced out of the window taking in the complete skyline as opposed to the destroyed City he remembered and also the few new buildings built in the last twenty years that stretched above the skyline he had witnessed in the past.

"It's morning." James told Chris simply before stepping away from his boyfriend's side. "Shall we go and see if they're around."

Chris smiled sarcastically. "Yay, all the cousins again!"

James smiled up at Chris' sarcasm with genuine happiness and Chris gave him a sappy smile in response knowing just how much James treasured every single one of Chris' younger sisters and cousins. James led the way down through the house to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Chris leaned against the door frame and James leaned into his chest and wrapped an arm around him at the sight. Chris drew his own arms around James and they simply watched as Wyatt attacked Matthew, Paige's ten year old adopted son. Evidently Matt had stolen the 23 year old's slice of bacon.

Around the table sat the entirety of Chris' family, his mom and dad, his older brother and his two younger sisters, Prue and Anna. Paige had obviously paid a visit along with Matthew, who was now wriggling around on Wyatt's lap, Luke and Joshua, her three sons.

James and Chris simply watched the scene, happy to be back where they should be among the people they both loved no matter how recently in James' case. "Wyatt!" Piper complained as Matt's arm almost sent her own breakfast to the floor. "Could you please stop teasing your cousin for two minutes so they rest of us can eat in peace?"

"But mom, he started it!" Wyatt whined.

Evidently Chris couldn't keep his wit under control as he spoke. "Oh, how mature of you!" Chris chuckled instantly getting everybody's attention.

"Chris honey!" Piper sent her chair falling back onto the floor in her haste to get to her son as fast as possible. James dived out of the way to avoid being crushed in the rather Molly Weasley-ish hug. "I can't believe you're finally back!"

"Jeese mom, it's only been a week." Wyatt complained though he was wearing a grin that James had never really seen on his face, a truly proud and happy expression completely full of love for his younger brother. "Uh…mom? He needs air."

James covered his laugh with his hand as the rest of the family group tackled Chris with hugs and kisses greeting him back. Oddly enough James didn't feel left out as he stole Wyatt's recently discarded chair and started picking through his food since he hadn't eaten in rather a long time, or at least it felt like it after everything that had just happened to him. He finally accepted his parents' death, was finally able to let the two Wizards go now that he knew the truth of what had happened. In a twisted kind of way Dumbledore had been right. It was a kind of love that had saved him from the Killing Curse but it hadn't been his mother's love but his own love for his parents. Love had driven him to do unthinkable things with unimaginable power but he knew that such a thing was out of his reach now. Only having so many things in the perfect place had allowed it to work, mainly having two of himself in the same place.

He'd have to ask Chris to teach him how to summon them since they had had twenty years to overcome their death even if it had only happened within the last twenty-four hours for James. He watched the family fawn over each other with a small smile on his face as he slowly finished off Wyatt's breakfast and was joined by Leo after a few moments.

"They seem to have forgotten you." Leo said quickly after James hushed him from reminding them of his presence. "You don't mind? You did save us all after all."

"And how many times have the Charmed Ones saved everybody?" James retorted playfully. "Besides I don't really mind." Leo didn't look convinced so James continued. "Chris really needs this reaffirming of his family. He never admitted it back then in the…er…past, but he was really pained over the screwed up future we saw. Of what Piper had become."

James chocked slightly on the last words and Leo watched him for a moment. "What about you though?"

"Our start was slightly different." James misinterpreted the question on purpose. "I had no recollection of any present other than this one when I woke there but Chris only got the knowledge after getting a premonition from me. He remembers growing up in that twisted world and it's effected him slightly."

Leo looked torn between his desire to know the real answer to his original question and watching his second son in shock. Twenty years ago, James has told them about waking up in a screwed up world and that he and Chris had desired to set it right again but neither had offered the fact that Chris had woken with a completely new set of memories. James just watched as Chris lifted his fourteen, nearly fifteen year old sister, Anna up into the air and hugged her to him before spinning around slightly. Chris caught James' eye for a moment and they exchanged smiles of relief. They were finally home.

They had a party in honour of James and Chris as soon as Phoebe and the rest of the family were told of the two's return. And even though Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo had all known as soon as the block on their memories had faded after James and Chris had left a week ago that everything would be ok. It confused James slightly that the two had supposedly left when there wasn't anything to fix but he simply brushed it off as one of the oddities of time travel. James was fiercely attacked with hugs minutes after Piper forced herself away from her second son and James had soon been swallowed in hugs from every member of the family at breakfast and then again by the rest of the extended family when they arrived for the party.

It was getting late into the evening and Gemma, James' Whitelighter who had been distressed when a block on her own memories had been dissolved, had left after coming down to find out exactly why James had vanished into the past for a week even though she hadn't actually been able to sense his disappearance. She had congratulated Chris on his quick thinking in using her to help him find Harry Potter and Chris had gone bright red as James laughed at him.

"Oh, James." Paige suddenly jumped into the conversation about their newly unlocked memories. All of the adults, Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Coup, Paige, Henry, Wyatt, Chris and James, were there slowly relaxing. "I wanted to thank you for making sure the knowledge of Chris' preferences stayed buried."

James frowned slightly with a quick glance at Chris as they both tried to work out where this was heading. James worked it out after a moment but Chris was still oblivious. James decided to play along. "Why's that, Paige?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"You were right, the first time we found out was far more hilarious for us then just being told." There was a strange glint to Paige's eyes and everybody but James and Chris simply stared at her in shock. James was too busy trying not to laugh and Chris was simply trying to blend into the back of his chair. Eventually a pitiful whimper escaped Chris' lips which turned into a groan as everyone burst into laughter and Chris went bright red. James laughed softly and turned glittering eyes onto his boyfriend and gripped his hand in his own.

"Paige!" Phoebe finally managed to get out. "That's incorrigible!"

"And mentally scarring." Wyatt muttered from James' left hand side. James burst into laughter properly at the pitiful comment that simply sent Chris further into his own seat as he too heard the quiet comment.

James turned to Wyatt and said in a voice that only carried to the two brothers. "Oh, I don't agree, Wyatt. I think it would be fun." He said with a smirk at Wyatt's shocked face before Wyatt succumbed to laughter too along with Chris after he got over the shock of what James had just said.

The group drank and chatted for a few more hours before Piper seemed to build up the courage to bring up something that everybody but Chris and James seemed to already know. "James, dear, we received a letter on Tuesday requesting a meeting 'at our leisure.'"

"'At out leisure?'" James asked with raised eyebrows. "Who was it from?"

"He said in the letter that he was a Wizard." James tensed so fast that Chris was surprised and flinched himself.

"Name?" James croaked out losing his mood surprisingly fast.

"Albus Dumbledore." James blanched violently and set his glass down on the table with shaking hands. He fidgeted for a few moments before standing. Unsure what to do with himself he thought about walking around the garden, then thought about sitting down, then of reaching for his glass. Eventually he just reached for Chris who seemed to have expected the move and caught him as he slid down into his chair. Chris was on the arm of the deck chair in an instant and James settled his head into Chris side.

James knew he was trembling ever so slightly. "My old headmaster." James told them in a surprisingly controlled voice that surprised them with it's underlying tone of hatred. "Did he mention me?"

"No." Piper told him soothingly with a concerned expression. James sighed out.

"What did he want?" Chris asked in irritation. He'd only seen James act close to this when confronted with the man in P3 when they had first met. He had later discovered that it was because the man had reminded him of the same Wizard that had tried to arrest James in Seattle.

"He wants to form an alliance." Paige told James slowly. "Wicca and something called the Order of the Phoenix against Demons and Death Eaters." She shuddered at the last thought and James knew that they all remembered the raid on the family of Mortals now so freshly replaced in their minds.

"He also formally apologised for his expeditions actions when they were here before." Phoebe put in. "The letter said that his Phoenix, Fawkes, would reappear tomorrow at noon, our time, to take back any reply."

"We were thinking about having him meet us here, since he obviously knows where we live now, to discuss it." Piper put in. "We know we shouldn't just reject his offer, the only reason we haven't just agreed to accept the alliance is because we don't know enough about them. You said that some of them were good after all."

"We thought it right to put it past you before we did anything though." Paige finished off.

"I don't think he's even listening to you." Chris told them rather more harshly then was strictly necessary. He had good reason to think that since James had turned his face into Chris' shirt and shut his eyes when they started talking about his request for an alliance.

"No, I was listening." James voice was weak this time and he was still shaking. He turned his head to look at the others and they could see that his eyes had taken on a red tint as if he was hiding tears. "We knew that they wanted an alliance since that's what Charlie told me."

"So what do we do?" Wyatt asked.

"We could summon Charlie again." James suggested. "Find out if this is legit."

"Are you sure?" Chris whispered to him though they all heard him.

"I trust Charlie." James told him. "We should do it now."

"Really?" Piper asked shocked. "Do we need anything to prepare?"

What she really meant was do we need a crystal prison, potions or other such defences. James just shook his head and stayed where he was. "Might as well stay comfortable." He muttered to Chris without moving as Wyatt stood to help his father move the low dining table out of the way.

"Should we really be doing this out in the open?" Henry asked being the only true mortal there. The others all seemed to realise this and seemed to agree they should do it inside in case one of the neighbours was watching.

"We can do it out here." James stopped them all quickly. "The wards are like a magical bubble, they'll stop anything magical being seen from the outside. It's a side affect of concentrating magic like that, though not a bad side affect."

"So it'll just look like we're some sort of cult standing in a circle?" Wyatt raised his eyebrows at them.

"Wyatt." Chris told him sternly and the others agreed that it would be safe to cast it out here. "Are you going to need out help?"

James nodded in amusement. "Compared to you lot I'm weak." James told them truthfully. "I can't summon somebody from the other side of the planet. I'll focus it if you all do the spell. It took everything I had to overcome his natural defences before but hopefully he'll realise what's happening this time but all the same if he's in Hogwarts or a similar protected place it'll take a lot more to pull him out."

"And your Ward's will let them through?" Chris asked remembering that they were supposed to ward off evil but he wasn't sure how far James had got in defining that.

"It is only a really smart bubble of magic at the moment that can tell the difference between magical and non-magical. I haven't gotten around to given it the ability to detect incoming magic or harmful spells or curses or anything like that yet."

"I'll pretend this is all making sense." Henry chuckled from behind Paige as they all stood up. James reluctantly stood at Chris' urging and he was still shaking liberally as he joined the circle with Chris's arm wrapped around his shoulder and Wyatt's hand in his own left hand. The others continued the circle with only the three husbands standing out of the circle though they were directly behind their wives.

Together they chanted the spell as James focused on Charlie and nothing else, he didn't even say the words.

"Power of the Witches Rise,

Course unseen across the sky,

Come to us, we call you near,

Come to us and settle here."

They didn't have to say it again since they all felt that it had worked and after a rather long minute a cloud of orbs appeared in the centre of the circle and when it fade James staggered backwards as a flash memory hit him, of Hermione sobbing against Charlie in the courtroom. Not only had they dragged Charlie across the Atlantic Ocean but they'd pulled his wife, Hermione, with him too.

"Harry!" Charlie gasped as soon as he got his bearings.

"Harry!" Hermione's rather high pitched shriek followed a few seconds later as she followed her husbands gaze to one of the nine people surrounding her. She stepped forwards and James felt Chris tighten his grip around his waist and Wyatt step to the right to block James ever so slightly from the two Wizards.

"It's ok, Chris." James glanced at his boyfriend with a small, though shaky smile. "Thank you, Wyatt." He let go of the other man's hand and place the hand on Wyatt's arm to guide him sideways. Hermione looked ready to launch herself at James and James' half step forwards seemed to be enough for her to do just that. In an instant James found his face in Hermione's rather more tamed brown hair and found her arms crushing his own. Even so he couldn't bring himself to hug her back. That was an old life, a painful one and he couldn't bring himself to love Hermione like he used to, it was just too painful for him.

James saw both Chris and Wyatt move towards him to free him as they noticed that James wasn't enjoying the hug like he did with their family. Charlie evidently noticed James' nervous posture as he too moved forwards and it was him that pulled Hermione off of him with soft words.

James took a moment to calm himself against Chris' side before drawing him self up and meeting Hermione's crying eyes. "Everyone, this is Charlie Weasley and Hermione Granger…er…Weasley I suppose now. Congratulation by the way."

Hermione managed a small smile as she grabbed Charlie's hand in his own. "Guys, these are the Halliwells and the Matthews." It was a bit odd to James that Paige's children took her surname even though Paige but Paige had decided to honour the family tradition of passing along the female surname and evidently Henry hadn't minded since he had four brothers to carry on the Mitchell name. "The Charmed Ones. The girl that your little expedition attacked was Anna, Piper's and Leo's daughter and Chris and Wyatt's little sister."

James had gestured to each of Chris' family as he mentioned their names and saw that Charlie was looking rather nervous all of a sudden as Wyatt glared at him with a nasty expression.

"Mom! What's going on?" Joshua suddenly interrupted the silence as he appeared beside his father Henry.

Paige glanced at him with a smile or assurance. "We're just talking to a guest, we'll explain everything later. Go make sure everyone is alright and keep Anna away from the window for the time being."

Joshua narrowed his eyes at the two Wizards before his eyes flitted to the wands held loosely in their hands and then to James with realisation as Paige's clue fell into place. He glared at the two Wizards but turned on his heal and headed in to make sure that his younger cousin didn't know that two of her attackers were outside and that Matt, or Jason, Phoebe's youngest son, who could both read peoples surface thoughts, hadn't realised either and told her.

"I'm hoping you didn't summon us here to hurt us for attacking your daughter." Charlie directed his words at Piper seeing the nasty glare in her eyes. "I really am sorry for what happened. Not all of our Order think that it was necessary to employ tactics like that but Snape was put in charge and by the time Hermione, Bill and I could argue it she had vanished. We made sure that Snape, McVare and Cabe were properly reprimanded by Albus Dumbledore for what they did."

"Reprimanded?" Wyatt asked in irritation. He probably wanted nothing more then to blow up all three of them. James decided it was time to get down to business and help his two old friends out.

"To get Dumbledore to even reprimand that greasy bat is a feat in and of itself." James told them. "We summoned you here to find out what you know about a letter that Dumbledore sent to ask for an allegiance."

"He sent it then?" Charlie looked at Piper seeing that she was the oldest of the three sisters that were supposed to be the most powerful Wicca Witches in the world. "He's desperate to get help against the Demons. Everything we have tried fails, their attacks are too strange for us to defend against and we've already found out that they can walk straight through the doors of Hogwarts without the wards stopping them."

"Really?" James gasped. His shock and horror made the seriousness of the situation clear to all of the others. "Magical transport is impossible in Hogwarts, I doubt you could even orb in or out of there. Though I think summoning like we just did would work as long as there was enough power behind it."

"You pulled us out of the new Order Headquarters. I doubt anybody saw it though, a meeting just ended and everyone else had gone." Charlie told them.

"Everyone else? What hadn't you left?" James asked.

"We live there." Hermione and Charlie both looked extremely nervous before Charlie got up the courage to keep talking.

"When you were imprisoned, Dumbledore began looking into your estate. As the last and only legitimate guardian named by your parents he received access to everything. In his defence it wasn't his fault, in fact he's been very good about it." Charlie told James as James glared. "Remus wasn't allowed to inherit, even though he was just after yourself and Sirius on the will. Dumbledore split your gold between all of the members who used to know you. Hogwarts has a lot of it but I doubt you mind that since Minerva is keeping an eye on who uses it and she still believes in you. He wrote the deeds to Godric's Hollow over to Bill since he and Fleur were married and they are rebuilding it. He wrote over Potter Manor to Hermione and me. He said that the Good you before you killed your relatives would have wanted it that way."

"We've cleaned it up and Dobby is working there with Winky, being paid of course, but if you don't want us there…?" Hermione trailed off in a shaky voice.

"I can't use it and I think my parents would have approved." James assured them. "I can't see Chris wanting to live in England anyway even if it is a big house."

Chris jumped slightly at suddenly being involved in the conversation. "Not in England anyway, though the big house part is tempting."

"Harry hasn't seen the house. It has almost sixty rooms and the grounds surround a forest lake and half a mountain." Charlie put in with a smirk.

"In that case…" Chris stopped as James elbowed him in the stomach.

"It's you house now. I don't want to live in the Wizarding world any time soon, maybe after this is all over we can use it but it'll still be your house as well." James told Charlie and Hermione who cheered up slightly after receiving proper permission to own the house.

"Moody was going out of his mind about using a place that you, being the only magical heir of the Potter, could apparate in and out of." Charlie laughed. "He was paranoid about every little shadow."

"You mean it still recognises me?" James asked.

"The wards recognise their own laws, they wont reject you just because the Ministry and Dumbledore have seized the Potter Estate. It'll recognise new Wizards like myself and Hermione as the owners and the Order if we let them in but even the owners cant stop you from entering or leaving." Charlie admitted before pondering another question. "I really should ask whether you still want the Order using the place. I mean there isn't many other places open to them at the moment with Grimmauld Place closed off since you left."

"Nah, they can use it." James surprised them all. "Means I can kick them out if they really annoy me."

"I think we've gotten sidetracked." Leo put in with a raised eyebrow though none of the spectators had minded James, Charlie and Hermione's conversation. "The allegiance?"

"For what its worth, we really need help." Charlie put in. "We cant stand against the Demons without help. I think Dumbledore wants the Charmed Ones to come to Hogwarts this year and either teach the children about different Demons and also help defend it in an attack as well as helping with the Order. He'll probably want to initiate you into the Order though I'd suggest against that part since it's a one way membership."

"So you think we should accept this meeting and alligeance?" Phoebe asked him and James knew she was concentrating on him.

"I really hope you do." Charlie told her seriously. "And I promise there isn't anything dark and sinister about it."

"He's telling the truth." Phoebe announced. "As he has the whole time."

Charlie and Hermione looked to James in confusion. "She's an Empath, she would have known if you were even lightly lying." James informed them. "I guess we'll be seeing you soon then."

"You coming back too?" Hermione half sound worried and half hopefully.

James chuckled. "You think I'm letting my new family anywhere near Wizards without me around to protect them from betrayal?" Hermione seemed to accept this.

"Dumbledore isn't expecting a Rune Master but he'll welcome it all the same and Bill would love to meet a Rune Master, he's been obsessed with any detail about them since we were kids. It's what made him become a Curse Breaker. It's the closest he could get to Rune Magic." Charlie smiled properly.

"He could probably learn something from me then." James mused. "Don't tell him though."

Charlie shrugged. "Are you able to send us back?" He asked eventually.

"We just need to release the spell and it will return you to the exact place that you left." Paige told them.

"See ya, Charlie, Hermione." James smiled at them, finally not shaking after their long conversation.

"Bye Harry." Both said just as Chris' family released the summoning spell and they both burst into orbs.

"Perhaps somebody should have told them that wasn't your name anymore." Wyatt pointed out to ease the silence that followed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Harding Park Orphanage

James had a very busy week ahead of him and he winced internally as he walked up to the front door of one of San Francisco biggest and in his opinion best run orphanage with Kevin on one side and Chris on the other. He and Chris had only arrived back the day before and after their meeting with Charlie and Hermione James had spent now less than four hours working on the wards. The two had eventually found their way into bed and their unconscious decision to take their relationship to the next level had meant that James hadn't gotten much sleep at all but he had woken up happy curled up against a naked boyfriend in said boyfriend's bed in the man's rather messy apartment.

James smiled at the memory of the night before. Ever since Azkaban he had only ever really trusted Sam and Jackie completely until Chris had come along and allowed him to trust somebody in a way that while heading for Azkaban after the trial he had never thought possible would be possible for him.

After they woke up mid morning they had headed back to the Halliwell Manor with the knowledge that they would be together for life. James hadn't voiced that knowledge, or hope, to Chris but he could see love in his boyfriend's eyes just like he had in the Manor garden when they were in the past and when they were having sex last night. It frightened James a bit but he knew he would become as comfortable with it as he was with Chris. With the reply sent at noon to Dumbledore and a meeting set up for Wednesday evening James had thrown every ounce of his concentration into building the wards on the Manor and by the time he had been forced to finish for the day the wards had teeth, rather blunt teeth but teeth all the same. He had used his own memories to determine what evil was to a Wizard and Piper's, Leo's and Chris' memories to determine evil in Wicca magic whether it was Witches or Demons or any other power. He'd even used Henry's memories of numerous criminals to determine evil in mortals since after seeing what Ian McKay was willing to do to his own son, Josh, and what Gellam had done to the children in the Orphanage he wasn't willing to take the risk.

The wards could now determine malicious intent and prevented anybody with such intent from entering the grounds through the wards. They didn't yet prevent such people from magically transporting in or out but that would come tomorrow evening after work. After that it would be a different layer of the wards to prevent people being summoned out of the wards through magical means on Tuesday and then just before Dumbledore arrived he'd layer them so that nobody could detect magic done in the house and that would prevent anybody from being able to scry any magical person within the wards. Thursday would be a day to set the warnings on the wards so that the family members like Chris, Wyatt and the three sisters, and the mortal adults would be able to find out what was happening if the wards were triggered. Finally on Friday he'd place the exceptions with personal Runes so that not only would the wards recognise certain members of the family but also allow them to slide around the normal rules like being able to scry through the wards if a family member was in danger.

The final stage was tricky since it required actually making the wards aware of what was happening within the wards. They'd begin to learn from what happened to the extent that it would let others enter through magical means even if they weren't cleared to normally if it was for the good of a family member. Like a Whitelighter other then Gemma, who Piper had agreed to let James add to the ward, trying to come to their help. After Friday though he planned on sleeping away the weekend with Chris at his side.

He rang the door bell on the right of the large red painted front door of the Orphanage. He'd been here twice to visit children before he'd gone back in time. Since he knew the place was supposed to be the best, and had lived up to that evaluation, he'd sent the older children from Golden Marina Orphanage her so that they had the best environment to recover from. Kevin tilted his head at his side and James turned to take his assistant in. Neither was there on business and all three were their at the invitation of the Warden and the ten children from the camp that lived there.

The door opened and a woman that James recognised as one of the resident social workers called Anise smile at the happily. "Nice hat, Anise." James smiled back at her with a flick of his eyes at her bright orange party hat. "I see festivities have started."

"Very funny, James." Anise told him. "Hi Kevin…um…" She trailed off looking at Chris who hadn't had the chance to visit this orphanage yet.

"This is my boyfriend, Chris. He was at the camp so all of the children know him." James introduced her. "Chris this is Anise, the resident social worker. How about we go and find the others?"

Anise shook Chris' offered hand before leading the group to a large hall type room. As soon as they walked into the room the noise hit them. Music was playing at a moderate level to one side of the room but most of the noise came from the children of all ages running around playing games, chasing each other, or simply running for the sake of it.

"James!" A voice on their right called and they turned to face Michael, the Orphan that this party was all for.

"Happy eighteenth, Michael." James announced and Chris and Kevin followed suit. Michael limped over to them on his still slightly bad leg and hugged Chris and Kevin briefly before pulling James into a slightly more heartfelt one.

"Thank for coming." Michael told him quietly. "When Paige told me you couldn't come to our session on Thursday and Kevin said you had personal things to deal with I was worried."

"Don't worry about it Michael." James assured him with a smile, "I'm glad to be able to come."

"Chris!" A small girl's voice screamed from behind them and all of the jumped around at the demanding tone of the small girl who felt that she was being ignored.

"Jessica." Chris crouched down to greet the eight year old that had taken a deep and unyielding liking to the man. She threw herself on him and hugged him even as Chris tried to stand and only found himself stuck. James grinned evily as he spotted Alan and Jazz whispering conspiratorially with a large group of children that were both from Golden Marine and from this one. In an instant the children were darting across the room and ploughing in Chris and eventually Kevin dragging them across the room with hugs and bribes while James nimbly dodged them by hiding behind Michael who simply laughed at the action and sent the rest of the children to aid the children wrestling with the two adults.

"So, how does it feel to finally be responsible for yourself after all this time?" James asked as he let Michael lead him passed the struggling forms of Kevin and Chris to the drinks table.

"I don't think it's hit yet." Michael answered honestly. "Mrs. Matthews came to explain my options to me on Thursday. She offered me a grant to complete and physiology or social services degree at a college of my choice."

"Really, that's good." James smiled at him.

"Don't you start playing dumb, this has you written all over it!" Michael glared playfully at him. "Can I ask you another personal question?"

"I suppose so, and since you are technically not under my care anymore I can actually get away with answering." James grinned at him to show that he really didn't mind.

"What did you do before you started at the college?" It was a rather loaded question.

"You mean how did I end up here doing that course and this college?" James asked knowing what the boy, or man, really wanted to know. Michael nodded. "You sure you want to know this today? We could talk about it during the week some time."

"No, I want to make a decision as soon as I can." Michael assured him.

"My Aunt, her husband and my Cousin always thought I was a freak ever since my parents were murdered when I was a baby." James told the truth feeling the connection of mutual experience between himself and Michael. "I lived the first ten years in a small cupboard under the stairs being starved or beaten for any supposed bad behaviour. Nobody that noticed their hate for me or noticed my appearance at school did anything about it and eventually when I turned sixteen I left them and spent almost three years trying to find my way again. Eventually I ended up here and some advice from a new friend made me decide to take up child psychology which was something I had always thought of doing."

"Because nobody had helped you when they saw the signs when you were younger?" Michael asked.

"For the most part I think, plus children are better then us adults as a whole." James told him with a small smile looking at Kevin and Chris now playing properly with the fleet of children.

"Why did you wait until you were sixteen?" Michael asked. "I mean, what happened then to change your mind?"

"I was sent to a boarding school, or I suppose you could say my place at the boarding school came around and since it had been paid for by my parents when I was born, my Aunt and Uncle could stop me going." James admitted. "I went for ten months a year and it became a home to me but every year they too ignored the signs, and I know they saw them, and every year they sent me back there. Each year I'd go back to school half the size I left previously but they never really took in what that meant. When I turned sixteen things turned bad and the Headmaster expelled me for something I didn't do and that there was no real evidence for. Barely anybody I knew stuck by me and that's when I left for good."

"You don't regret not staying and fighting for the truth?" Michael asked as he took all of this in.

"Not once since I left." James told him forcefully. "Back there I was just a person they could use when they wanted to and discard when they didn't. Here I can really make a difference to people that will use the opportunity I give them to do something good in turn."

"Do you think I will?" Michael asked unsure of himself.

"In a way it is the other way around. You owe us nothing before it was you that kept the rest safe in that place while we failed you completely." James told him. "In a way, me freeing you and helping you talk about it all is my own way of thanking you for that. The grant is simply Paige's way of doing the same since she thinks you'll be an essential aid to helping children."

"I admit I agree with the people that left us there without checking on us owe me and everyone else a lot, something they could probably never repay us for." Michael sighed. "But not you, or Kevin. Neither of you owe us anything."

"Maybe we should call it even then." James smiled a half smile. "So what are you going to do about that grant?"

"I'm going to go to college and get my degree in Child Psychology so that I can carry on the chain." Michael grinned cheekily for a moment. "It's all part of the Greater Plan for the world. You helped me, I'll help some other kid somewhere, and they do the same, and so on."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

His timetable for working on the wards went off without a hitch and by Wednesday it was no longer possible to travel through the wards with any form of magical transport nor was it possible to summon somebody out of the manor which they had tested by trying to summon Piper from the Manor to Wyatt house in the north of the city. It also wasn't possible to scry anybody within the Manor but James could monitor every piece of magic cast within the Wards if he wanted to check the Rune Matrix. It wasn't without it's flaws since not even the family could travel in or out of the Wards and it was harder for any of the family members with Whitelighter blood to sense anybody they knew within the Wards unless they were already inside though it was possible with a lot of concentration. Those particular problems would be solved once James sorted out the loopholes on Friday.

He finished the Wards and lay back on the bathroom floor to relax. Chris stretched out his legs with a small groan of relief as the blood rushed back to them. Chris had yet to miss any of the Ward building sessions and James knew that his boyfriend was tired, not just from boredom but because neither of them had had much in the way of a proper sleep that night. James was always too energised as his Wicca magic filled the void left by using up his Rune Magic and Chris was always willing to help James get rid of his excess energy.

Chris glanced at his watch and winced. "I better change your appearance again." He sighed. "Aunt Paige and mom should be back with him any moment now."

James just sat patiently as Chris concentrated and he briefly felt a tingling around his head. A spell cast by all of the Wicca adults in the family had been cast on his curse scar to hid it and it as soon as they arrived back in their own time. It would take magic more powerful then the six of them combined to break through the glamour. Even Alastar Moody's eye wouldn't be able to see through it, or at least that's what James hoped. James stood and helped his boyfriend up off of the floor as he tried to relieve the pain in his knees from sitting cross legged for so long. One glance in the mirror showed that his hair was slightly shorter, better controlled and a light brown that also helped to hide the strange green colour of his eyes. No longer were they a bright emerald colour but Azkaban caused forest green but they were still a strange colour and almost seemed to see through a person to their secrets, but that was just James' unnerving ability to see what troubled people.

"Are you going down as the 'Rune Master?'" Chris asked. James lowered his head slightly. "You know that mom told you that she didn't mind you skipping this meeting. You could just stay up here or we can slip out and orb to my place, or yours? We could go out with Sam and Jackie again."

James stopped his suggestions with a kiss on the lips before he smiled against Chris' lips and pulled back. "Thanks for the offer, love, but I should be here in case he tries something underhanded. But I might go down as the family pet like Paige suggested earlier."

"That'll give him a shock." Chris chuckled. "Should I find you a collar to make it more realistic?" Chris teased.

"Keep your dirty fantasies for the bedroom, Chris." James teased back and laughed as Chris blushed a deep red. The sound of the front door opening stopped their playful banter from turning into anything more pleasurable and Chris almost leapt at his boyfriend as he went rigid. James knew who was only a few metres from him and it scared him more than having to face off with all the Dementors under Alcatraz Island.

James summoned the Rune Matrix in the centre of the room and pulled it around in circles for a few short moments before tapping a short sequence with the end of his finger. It expanded and enlarged as it moved away from the sphere. "It's definitely a powerful Wizard. Can't tell more than that though."

"We'll just have to go down and find out then." Chris told him. "That thing tell you anything else?"

"He's not using any magic, so there isn't any illusions as far as I know." James told him before the sphere vanished into thin air.

"I'll let mom know." Chris said. James nodded before he concentrated on turning into his Animagus form and soon the floor was rushing up at him and he was a Black Panther. He stretched his muscles before looking up at Chris who had a small smile on his lips as he watched James before reaching over and scratching behind James' ear. James let a purr rumble through him to show that he was grateful. Chris opened the door to find Wyatt pacing up and down the hallway.

"Are you finished?" Wyatt asked anxiously as Chris stepped out followed by the Panther. Wyatt looked down at James before his anxiety turned to relief. "Mom and dad, Aunt Paige, Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coup are in the conservatory with Dumbledore."

"What's he like?" Chris whispered as they followed James slowly down the stairs into the front hall. James flattened his ears to show he didn't care to listen to this.

"He's a right weirdo, bright yellow and orange robes with what looks like hippos flying around them." Wyatt rolled his eyes. "It's a good thing mom told him to wait in a secluded place or who can tell how many mortals could have seen him."

James could smell the mentioned people in the conservatory. He recognised all but one of the scents since he hadn't smelt Dumbledore before as a Panther. He slunk through the kitchen and the dining room and into the Conservatory taking in the scene with one sweep of his head.

Dumbledore was sitting with his back to the window facing the Dining room door and had easily seen James' appearance. "Oh my, and who is this beautiful feline?" Dumbledore spoke in much the same tone that he used when offering sweets.

Piper, Paige and Phoebe craned around the backs of their chairs but were saved from answering as James' growl rumbled through the room. Chris spoke up from behind James knowing that it wouldn't be long before James pounced and bit through the old man's neck. "This is Shadow, a family friend."

"A family friend?" Dumbledore didn't looked all that convinced but Chris cut him off.

"Mom, James told me to tell you that the wards didn't detect any magic currently being used. As far as he can tell our visitor isn't using and illusions or glamours." Chris whispered quietly into his mother's ear so that Dumbledore didn't have a chance to hear his words.

"Shall we get down to business?" Piper asked Dumbledore after turning back to him.

"Would anybody care for tea before we start? I could conjure something up to save you the trouble." Dumbledore offered but everybody shook their heads. He shrugged cheerfully before pulling his wand and waving it over the table top. A flowery tea set appeared out of thin air and began pouring tea for him which he lifted to his lips and took a sip before beginning again. James noticed that the group were shocked by the magic, he hadn't bothered to tell them about transfiguration or charms beyond what could be used against them in battle. "I would like to once again express my deepest apologies for the way that my expedition team acted when they were here before and I can only hope that you can accept that it was never my intention to harm any member of your family. I truly do wish to begin some kind of alliance with you."

"I believe that you should apologise to Anna, our daughter, more than to us." Leo pointed out. "It was her that your team tried to capture."

"Of course, of course, I will apologise to her personally as soon as I see her." Dumbledore promised. James, seeing that Dumbledore wasn't going to started cursing them at any moment, sat on his back legs between Piper and Chris' chair. Chris began lightly running his hand up and down James' ever so slightly trembling body and James found it extremely helpful in deadening the flashbacks that had been flashing in front of his eyes since the beginning of this meeting.

"So what exactly do you hope to gain from this alliance?" Paige asked.

"Your help in countering the Demons that are helping a Dark Wizard from overcoming the forces of Light." Dumbledore told him.

"Voldemort?" Piper asked shocking Dumbledore with her knowledge of their war. "Let us be plain here, we are well aware of the war between the Wizards and the many factions."

"How can that be?" Dumbledore looked a little less sure of himself after losing the upper hand.

"We have our own friends who have taught us about your magic." Piper told him. James, happy in the knowledge that he and Chris' family had Dumbledore at a disadvantage prepared to turn back into his human form.

"Your friend would be the Rune Master that helped you overcome my best fighters." Dumbledore concluded before his eyes widened and his wand sprung to his fingertips as James appeared in between Chris and Piper. James instantly sat on the arm of Chris' chair to cover the trembling in his body.

"Headmaster Albus Dumbledore." James spoke simply and the others all seemed to respect his place in this conversation. "I can't really say that it is a pleasure to see you but for the 'Greater Good' that you seem to spout about so often I condoned this meeting."

"Have we met?" Dumbledore asked.

"You have never met _me_." James emphasised the last word though it told nothing of what the words really meant. It was true really, Dumbledore had never met the real him. He knew Harry Potter, the boy that had died in Azkaban. "My name is James Evans, the wards on this house are mine, though incomplete."

"We are all for an alliance." Piper butted into the conversation, "But we are a package deal, if you want our help then you must prove yourself honest to both us and to James."

Dumbledore was obviously struggling with which questions to ask but he finally landed on a leading comment. "As far as I know, no Rune Master has entered the Wizarding World in centuries."

"How is it that I know so much about it then?" James would have chuckled if it wasn't for the fact that he was currently having to concentrate on stopping himself from crying and crumbling into Chris, he'd never had to hide so much emotion before. This was the man that had put him with his relatives, ignored his neglect and abuse and then sent him to Azkaban without a chance at proving himself innocent. "Let's just say that early in my training I stumbled across a piece of your world in the form of a boy my age that had been wrongly accused and locked away in Azkaban."

"You met Harry Potter?" Dumbledore almost stood but in the same movement James felt Dumbledore's mind brush his own as their eyes caught each other. James violently slammed the Headmaster from his mind and narrowed his eyes though he didn't deem to mention it. "He is a murderer that killed his own family."

"Harry had long since chosen to give up any hope of convincing your world of the truth, I will do the same. Think what you will but until you can show me unequivocal proof of his guilt myself and those here remain in the belief that he is innocent." James told him but cast a worried glance at the others wondering if they all did believe him innocent. Evidently they did since all of them met his eyes with determined looks. "My meeting with Harry Potter has nothing to do with this conversation though except to prove that I know of your World's most serious failings. If we agree to this alliance what do you want from us?"

"I had hoped that the Charmed Ones would come to Hogwarts to teach and watch over the students, to teach the Order of the Phoenix in recognising and combating your magic." Dumbledore told them all. "A Rune Master, even half trained, would be of brilliant help to us. Hogwarts is in dire need of having her Wards looked at and I am sure that any Rune Master would appreciate the chance to look into the most complex protective Runes in the history of magic. Impressive as these wards are they are nothing compared to Hogwarts."

"That is probably true though with so long without a Rune Master to purge it, the schools wards will be seriously complex." James said though internally the thought of returning to the only place that he had called home before coming to San Francisco only caused more grief to rise in him.

"What about our families?" Paige asked. "We all have children at school."

"Your children are more than welcome to attend the school either as students or as guests though I think that he would be a wonderful experience for them to take part in classes along side the other students." Dumbledore seemed to perk up as the conversation started leaning in favour of a positive ending. "I am happy to put you up in a separate wing of the castle which has its on pass worded entry so you will be able to be together without being disturbed by the other students at all hours of the day and night."

"What about their normal education?"

"Gemma used to be a school teacher." James spoke up before thinking but shrugged when they all looked at him. "She could easily keep them in line with their studies."

"And our Muggle Studies Professor would be happy to help out." Dumbledore said but didn't deem to explain to them exactly who or _what_ that was.

James took at everyone in term and saw agreement there. James turned back to Dumbledore and nodded. "We'll come to Hogwarts and help you but the earliest we can do that is this Sunday. We all have things that we need to do before we can leave for any length of time."

"I would be happy to organise transport for you." Dumbledore smiled happily and James felt himself feeling nauseous.

"That won't be necessary." James said rather harsher then necessary, his fist were clenched and he could feel blood on the insides of his palms where his nails were digging in.

"We can get there ourselves. James knows the way." Piper told them. "We shall see you on Sunday then."

Piper stood and led Dumbledore to the front door but everyone else simply sat in silence trying not to look at James who was shaking rather violently. Chris reached up and placed his hand on James' shaking back but in his daze, James flinched away from the touch and darted up. Chris followed instantly but didn't try to reach out again as James hugged his arms around his chest. Tears were welling in his eyes before he sagged down onto the chair Chris had just vacated. Wyatt had been sitting on the other end of the chair and when Chris sat down slowly, James found himself wedged between them.

He sat there trembling for a while only realising with half of his brain that everybody but the two brothers were creeping from the room.

As soon as the first tears crept from James' eyes he lost control of his tightly wound emotions and sagged into the back of the chair pulling his knees up to his chest. Chris had an arm around him in an instant whispering words into his ears and James even realised that Wyatt was rubbing circles in James' back to try to sooth him. James tilted ever so slightly into Chris who leant back to let his boyfriend head lie on his lap. James turned his back on the world and curled up on the couch grasping Chris t-shirt too him as sobs racked his body.

After two minutes of this Wyatt stood up and pulled a blanket over James before leaving Chris and James in the room alone as Chris stroked James' hair and tried to sooth him even as the emotional outburst turned into a full on panic attack that only subsided when he felt into a restless sleep filled with nightmares.

By the time morning came, Chris was exhausted having been unable to sleep with James constant nightmare even after he had decamped them up to his old bedroom and gotten him to bed.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	21. Walking over skeletons

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Warning, slightly slashy scenes here and there but nothing serious

Chapter 21; Walking over skeletons

****

James' flat - Sunday

James sighed and snuggled into his boyfriend's side as he woke up. The two single beds in his room had been pushed together but they were only lying in James' bed. The summer sheet was pushed down to their waists covering their naked forms rather modestly though there wouldn't be anyone there to see them. They'd both made it quite clear after Wyatt had orbed himself and Piper into Chris' flat when they'd been sleeping that such things were no longer allowed.

In fact both Wyatt and Piper's hair was still a bright orange colour from James' retribution for being woken. Luckily for them both their sheet had been up to their ribs at the time.

"You're smiling again." Chris whispered and brushed a kiss against James' temple.

"Am I not allowed to?" James looked up without moving his head from Chris' chest.

"Not unless I know why." Chris smirked down at him.

"I was picturing what colour to turn your brother's hair next time." James told him with a return smirk.

Chris chuckled. "I hope there isn't a next time. He's seen way more of me than I'd like."

James leaned up and kissed him on the chin before kissing him on the lips, he shifted his weight onto one of his elbows and let that hand play with his boyfriend's hair while they kissed and he slowly played trails down his boyfriend's body with the fingers of his other hand, slowly getting closer to the newly tented sheet that covered Chris' waist.

"Wait." Chris gasped and grabbed James' hand with his own. "What time is it?"

James glanced up at the wall at the clock not visible to Chris in the gloom of his curtained room. To his Panther enhanced sight it was as visible as in midday with the curtains open. "Almost midday."

"Does almost leave us enough time to shower?" Chris asked.

"Just." James sighed.

"Right, we need to get ready." Chris told him and pushed himself up onto his arms. James pushed himself up to follow and ghosted his fingertips over his boyfriend's arousal as he did so. "Tease."

"You're the one saying no." James chuckled.

"Only because if I let you you'll put off this trip and if you tease me much more I'll join you in your scheming." Chris told him lovingly.

James laid his head on Chris' shoulder and Chris turned and placed a kiss on his forehead again. "I really don't want to go back there."

"You know you don't have to, we wont think anything of it if you back out. I wont think any less of you that's for sure." Chris told him. "I love you."

James smiled happily at his boyfriend and snuggled into his side. "I love you to and even though I don't want to go back there your family is needed there and even if the adults are all idiots the children need your help and I'm not going to sit here and let you go alone."

"That's one of the reasons I love you." Chris told him. "One of many reasons I might add."

"What's the others?" James asked.

"You'll just have to wait and find out." Chris chuckled. "Now stop dragging this out. By the time we get to the Manor they'll all be waiting for us."

"Did your mom decide who was going?" James asked as he slipped out the side of the bed and stretched like his panther did though he did it standing up. He turned to his boyfriend to see him staring at his arse rather stunned. "Chris?"

He jerked and shook his head. "You know what that does to me." Chris glowered at him and pulled himself up. James stole a quick kiss before going to his drawers to grab some clothing. "Mom said everyone really. There's mom and dad along with Wyatt, me, Anna and Prue. Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coup as well as Patience, Felix and Jason. Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry with Josh, Luke, Pennie, Ashley and Matt."

James blinked at the rapid reminder of just how many relatives Chris had and smiled at him wistfully. Chris saw the look and hugged James tightly. "I wonder what it would have been like if my parents were alive, like how I felt when we were back in the past, but then I remember what you said. Not everything since that night has been bad. I love you and I love all of your family like my own."

"They are your own." Chris told him and kissed him soundly on the lips. "Mom wants you to ask Gemma to join us when school starts to help with teaching the others. Aunt Phoebe wants to return as much as possible to work since you told her that a computer wouldn't work over there."

"Not unless I work something out anyway." James told him. "What about Paige?"

"She's taking sabbatical and officially taking you to with her. She's going to file it as voluntary work at an English boarding school." Chris told him. "She'll come back at some point to make sure things are ok back here but she'll spend most of the time over there along with Mom, Dad and Uncle Coup. Uncle Henry can't stay longer than two weeks and will come back too but everyone else is staying."

"So just Henry and Phoebe are staying here in the long run?" James frowned. "What about you and Wyatt?"

"Wyatt definitely has to come back for med school and I want to come back to do my additional year." Chris paused before pulling his t-shirt over his head. "If you don't mind me constantly leaving. It's a long way to continuously orb."

"It's not a problem, you can spend the weekends at Hogwarts with me and if I need you during the week I can always apparate to your flat." James shrugged. "It's instantaneous with me remember."

"Oh yeah. So you don't mind?" Chris frowned uncertainly. "I don't want to leave you if you don't want to be alone."

"I wont be alone, I'm sure your mom and dad will look out for me." James said.

"But what if they work out who you are?" Chris grabbed his arms gently.

"Then I'll leave and come back here." James assured him. "I'm not going to stick around."

"But you said you can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts." Chris groaned.

"But there will be eight of your family around me that can all go through the wards." James assured him before putting his hands on either side of his taller boyfriend's face. "It's sweet of you to worry and it means more to me to know that somebody out there can feel that way about me, especially after Azkaban, but I don't want you to fail your year by worrying about me. Gemma will be there and nothing in Hogwarts can stop her from hearing me if I call for her. Trust me, Chris."

"I trust you love. It's not that." Chris sighed. "I just don't want to be on the other side of the planet from you if something happens."

"You'll be the first we contact if anything blows up, I promise." James assured him before forcibly tilting his head down to his own and covering his lips with a deep and heartfelt kiss that dragged on as Chris' hands ran up and down James' bare chest and back. "God I love you so much."

"I know." Chris smiled a sappy smile and waited for James to grab his shirt before hefting the bag that they planned to share for the time at Hogwarts and orbing them both to Halliwell Manor. They felt the warm wash of the wards greeting them and James appeared from the orbs with a satisfied smile on his face at his success with the wards.

"You look like you just got laid." Wyatt's voice broke into his reverie. "Not a good look when your fifteen minutes late."

"Shut up, Wy." Chris snapped. "We had personal issues to sort out."

"I'm sure you did." Wyatt, wearing his orange hair, smirked at the two younger men.

"Fancy a new shade, Wyatt?" James asked innocently and the man backed off with a shake of his head. His hand came up to run through the orange hair regretfully. "If you must know Chris was worrying over leaving me in Hogwarts when he returns here."

"Oh." Wyatt came up short and shot his brother a half smile which was part apologetic and partly proud.

"Yes, oh." James smirked and leaned into Chris' side and wrapped his arm around the taller man's waist. "Is everybody here?"

"Yeah, you're the last. Everyone is out in the conservatory with their cases." Wyatt told them and Chris led the way through the dining room to the conservatory where the three men, three women, five boys and five girls were waiting around. The children were diverting attempts to check they had everything while their mothers fussed over everything. The three men just sat on chairs around the room in patient silence.

"Chris, James!" Piper rushed over to them and hugged her son quickly which was rather out of character for her to do so if they weren't in mortal danger. James accepted a slightly longer lingering hug knowing that he woman was concerned over his mental health. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure." Chris nodded as he dumped their green canvas bag on top of the neatly staked pile.

Paige pulled James to one side as soon as Piper went back to making sure everyone else was ready. "Are you going to be alright?" She asked him.

"I'll be fine, why?" James frowned at her.

"We all know you're very strong, James. But we also remember what happened at P3 the first time you met everyone else." Paige told him. "We just want to be sure that you can handle all of this."

James fiddled with his fingers for a few moments before looking at her earnestly. "It'll take a lot of work and I wont say I know for sure I can handle it." James told her. "To be honest I want you to keep an eye on me. I know Chris will too and Piper's just like that but I'm going to have to keep up a shield around anybody we don't know."

"And I'm the only one with enough training to see through it." Paige agreed.

"Something like that, yeah." James nodded relieved.

"Don't worry, I'm not willing to lose an employee to insanity." James raised his eyebrows at her. "Nor let my little nephew lose somebody he loves so much. Come to me whenever you need to talk. I'll be willing to listen any time."

"Thanks Paige." James nodded before turning to Piper. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Has everyone got everything?"

"As if most of us can't just pop back here within minutes anyway." Joshua muttered to his father, Coup.

"That's not the point, Joshua!" Piper reprimanded the seventeen year old and eldest of the children of the family not counting the two adults. In fact, he'd be eighteen before the Christmas holidays. Joshua flashed James a devilish look and flicked his eyes to his Aunt's orange hair. Piper saw the motion and her hand came up to her hair. "Now, James. You can't expect Wyatt and myself to show up like this."

"Don't you remember what Dumbledore was wearing?" Paige pointed out with a grin though James was already concentrating and Piper's hair was slowly changing back into her natural dark brown colour while Wyatt's slowly turned back to blond as James' Wicca magic went to work. Piper pulled her hair forward and nodded in satisfaction.

"It'll vanish the next time." Chris warned his brother and, although not directly, his mother. Wyatt looked between Chris and James and visibly gulped. James sent him a devilish look.

"So, how are we doing this?" Leo asked.

"Everybody who can take a passenger find a buddy." Piper announced. James smiled down at Matt as the youngest boy attached himself to his arm.

"You sure, Matt?" Chris asked. "It doesn't feel that pleasant."

Matt just nodded resolutely. Eventually the nine older family members and James each had a partner except for Chris who planned to take the luggage. James looked around the eighteen others in the room and apparated from the room with Matt at his side letting them follow his route across the United States, across the Atlantic and into Scotland and onto the dirt road that led from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. They were in sight of the town but James had purposed arrived out of view of the castle.

Matt sagged ever so slightly and James hugged the boy to his side. "You ok?"

Matt nodded up at him and took his own weight again. "Where is everyone, did they get lost?"

"Nah. My way is instantaneous." James told the ten year old before he made his way to the edge of the road and sat on the ground with his back against one of the trees from the forest that lined the roads sides. He patted the ground next to him and Matt headed over to sit against the four foot wide tree trunk. "We might as well get comfortable. According to Wyatt he can do the trip in five minutes so that's another four and a half minutes from now."

"Uncle Coup, Patience, Felix and Jason can do it in two minutes." Matt told him with a grin.

"At least that means we wont get too bored sitting here on our own. Want to play a game?"

"Do you know how to play rock, paper, scissors?" Matt asked. "Anna taught me how to play it!"

"Sure." James settled into the game as they waited for the glow-travellers to arrive with their mother and wife, Phoebe and Paige's eldest children, Joshua, Luke and Pennie. Almost to the second the air was disturbed as first Coup and Phoebe appeared in the centre of the road and then Patience and Joshua, Felix and Luke and finally Jason and Pennie. They looked around as they got used to the slightly chillier air and early evening light before they spotted James and Matt still playing hand games.

"Hey rascal." Joshua teased his adopted little brother who waved before beating James in their last game, paper to rock.

"How long have you been here?" Phoebe asked.

"Since about two minutes ago, just after we left really." James shrugged.

"The others should get here in anything from three to ten minutes then." Coup told him. "Wyatt will be first, then Paige probably, Chris and then Prue and Anna."

"I expect Chris and Paige will slow and come across with Prue and Anna to make sure they get over ok since they are bringing Ashley and Henry along with them." Phoebe pointed out. "To stop them getting lost or in case they have to stop somewhere along the way."

"Like in the middle of the Atlantic?" James asked. "You know I could have always brought Ashley and Henry along with me."

"It wont hurt them and they need the practice." Phoebe shrugged. "What time is it over here?"

James looked up at the sky and thought back to his own summers. "Probably about half past six. We should be just in time to grab some dinner."

"A whole day lost!?" Patience whined. "I'll never get to sleep tonight!"

"I could always put a spell on you." James offered helpfully and got a glare in return. The group took seats around them and James made himself more comfortable and eventually everyone had arrived. Wyatt appeared as predicted with his mother in tow and chuckled as he glanced around at the ten already there. Almost as the tenth minute went passed a large cloud of orbs appeared in the middle of the road and first Chris appeared surrounded in luggage and then Paige appeared with her brother-in-law, Leo, at the same time as Prue and Anna took form with thirteen year old Ashley and the older Henry as passengers.

"Well done." Paige told the two girls with a large smile on their faces. Chris quickly got to James' side with a slightly concerned look on his face as he accessed James' mood.

"Are you ok?" Chris whispered quietly as he helped James to stand.

"Bit bored." James told him with a grin.

"We got here ten minutes ago." Matt announced to his older cousin happily and Chris ruffled his hair.

"You know what I mean." Chris told James.

"I can't see the castle yet. We'll know when I do." James told him. "To be honest though I've always loved the castle, it's just he people in it that I don't like."

Chris nodded just as Piper finished making sure they were all their. "Six parents, three adults who are supposed to be responsible for themselves and twelve children who I wish would take responsibility for themselves." She sung with a grin and Chris and Wyatt both groaned and shook their heads. James squeezed Chris' hand as he noticed how easily she had changed from saying two adults to three to include him.

"Welcome to Scotland." James told them. "The school is supposed to be unplottable not to mention impossible to travel into through Apparition which doesn't seem to be a problem for you guys. This road joins the school to the local town, Hogsmeade, which is one of the only Wizard only towns in the world. No mortals." He added the last to explain what he meant.

"You mean we could use magic here whenever we wanted?" Jason asked him.

"No mortal can reach here, unless brought by a Wizard or Wicca witch evidently." James added to placate Henry and Leo. "For that matter the school is supposed to look like a ruined castle to mortals too but I suppose it shouldn't effect Leo but I'm not sure about you Henry."

"Anything else?" Patience asked sarcastically.

James just raised his eyebrows at her. "A few things." He chuckled. "Never, for any reason stray off of this path on the way through the forest and never enter the parts of the forest on the school grounds. There are all sorts of things in there which don't like humans that much."

"Like what?" Prue asked.

"Like werewolves on the full moon, griffins, snakes, Acromantulas, human hating centaurs." James trailed off. "And enough dark magic to do anyone some rather permanent damage."

"Definitely off limits then." Piper told all of the children and notably Wyatt as well. "What about the school?"

"The staircases, doors and rooms can sometimes move, there are trick steps all over the place. The portraits are alive, so are the suits of armour. There are ghosts which aren't that bad unless they accidentally go through you." James paused for breath. "And don't go exploring without me around or you'll definitely get lost."

"Exactly how big is this place?" Henry asked.

"Nobody knows for sure. Bigger on the inside than the outside. I've been down six floors into the dungeons before and I know I didn't go as far down as I could." James shrugged.

"Speaking of which." Piper paused to fix James with a look. "I don't know what you children have all gleaned from James, Chris, Wyatt or whoever or whatever power." Here she glanced at Matt and Jason, the telepaths and Anna and Pennie, the Empaths. "But he is only James Evans, don't use any other name or comment on when or how we met him."

"And if anybody asks any of you about Harry Potter you don't say a word in either way. Just tell one of us adults and we'll deal with it." James told them.

"Why did you leave here?" Matt asked.

James drew in a breath and looked around. Piper, Phoebe and Paige were all giving him silent permission to tell them whatever he felt he needed to so he decided to at least give them the bones of it. "I used to go to school here but something bad happened and they blamed me for it so I moved to America where I met all of you. But they want to find me again so you can't tell them anything, okay?"

They all nodded but he could see that only Matt, Ashley and Jason, the three youngest, were convinced by this story. He didn't doubt that they were the only three that didn't knew that he was Harry Potter and would soon find out that this world thought that Harry Potter killed his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. He'd have to deal with that himself when they found out

They all hefted their bags except that James helped Matt and Ashley carry their bags as they walked up the road. James paused at a particular turn in the road to let everybody meet up before walking around the corner and into sight of the front of the castle. It glowed majestically in the light on the low west sun and James half felt glad to see it again. The other half of him was imagining being caught and thrown back into that little cell again. Everybody in the party gasped in awe and gazed upon the magnificent castle even as James shuddered and hunched in on himself slightly.

James led the rest of the way with the more hyperactive children and with Chris, who wasn't leaving his side any time soon, and Wyatt with the rest of the party trailing a few paces behind. They walked through the outer wall and the open gate that towered over the path and into the grounds. The edge of the cliff trailed the left about a hundred metres from the path while on the other side the forest crept up to the castle in front of the them stopping a few hundred metres from it allowing passage for students to the greenhouses and to the lake beyond. He followed the path up to towards the main entrance and studiously ignored the pathway that led around the left of the castle to the, so far, hidden Quidditch pitch.

As they approached the doors they ground open and three figures walked out towards them. James tensed and paused at the bottom of the steps and Chris took an imperceptible step closer to him as he and James grasped Ashley and Matt by the shoulders to stop them from running up the stairs.

A small squeak of fear sounded from behind them and James turned in surprise to see Anna held firmly up against Leo's side. James turned back to the three professors and shook his head.

"Headmaster Dumbledore." James almost snarled. "Your foresight isn't what people claim it to be. I would suggest that your hired hitman introduce himself another time before one of Anna's brothers or cousins attacks him."

Dumbledore looked at him for a moment as if contemplating an argument but the threat behind the words were clear. Either Snape left or they did. He turned to the side and whispered a few words to Snape who turned a harsh glare on James before sweeping around like the overgrown bat he always had been and slipped through the open doors. "Now, why don't we all go inside and have a late supper? I'm sure you are all anxious to get settled in."

"Thrilled." James growled though only Chris heard him. James let the others precede him inside but waited for Anna to pass him before catching her on the arm. "Sorry I didn't think of that. You don't have to worry about that man. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you but if he does you have my personal permission to orb him into the middle of the ocean or something."

She smiled up at his joke and jogged to catch up with her eldest brother seeing him as a good way to protect her. Wyatt passed an arm around her shoulders and gave her a one armed hug. James turned his eyes up to the towering seven floor castle and sighed. Oh, how he really didn't want to be here.

The family had paused just inside the doors to look around at the two floor entrance hall with its two sweeping staircases mounted around the great doors that opened into the Great Hall. James didn't want to look around and kept his eyes on Piper and Leo who were watching him cautiously. He nodded to them briskly and started to follow the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress towards the far doors and the Great Hall.

"Should we leave our bags out here?" Piper asked him as he made to pass her. He knew she was thinking about the Book of Shadows sitting in her bag and the Tome of Runes packed away in James and Chris' bag.

"We'll put them in the corner of the Great Hall until we leave." James suggested before following his old Professors into the Great Hall. This time he made sure not to look around. He couldn't afford to be caught out by his adverse reactions right then. He kept his eyes on McGonnagal or on the family of Wicca Witches around him and tried to keep his emotions settled on the simple so they didn't affect Phoebe, Anna and Pennie who were all Empaths and Coup and Felix who could probably sense his serious desire to succumb to fear and run away or hide behind Chris. By the strained and miserable looks on the Empaths faces as they glanced at him and the concerned looks on the two males faces it wasn't working. He took a deep breath and firmly locked away anything that came anywhere close to an emotion.

The five looked startled as they snapped their heads around to his only to see a blank face like they hadn't seen since he started to get to know the family and express himself better. James caught Phoebe whispering to Coup but James ignored them and turned back to the Hall as he walked slowly down the centre isle.

The Hall probably held all of the few professors that remained throughout the year. Apart from Dumbledore and McGonnagal there was Flitwick, Sprout and Trelawny as well as Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey. Snape was obviously also in the school but was no longer there.

"Welcome again to Hogwarts." Dumbledore told them as soon as they had dropped their bags on one of the tables. The Ravenclaw table as it happened since there was food laid out on the Gryffindor table. "These are my Heads of the Four Houses. Minerva McGonnagal, also my deputy. Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, and of course you already know Severus Snape. This is the school's Groundskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid, my Divination professor, Sybill Trelawny and our school healer Poppy Pomfrey."

Each nodded as they were introduced and Piper took a step forward to do the introduction. James stepped away slightly but kept himself near to Chris to show that he wasn't a complete outcast from the family. The rest got into some semblance of order as the children separated towards their respective parents so it would be easier to introduce them. This took some work from the parents since the cousins tended to stick with age groups. The teenage boys and then the teenage girls and then the younger children always hung around together somewhere unless James was around in which case they hung around him.

"I'm Piper Halliwell, these are my sisters, Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews and our husbands, Leo Wyatt, Coup Davis and Henry Mitchell." Piper started with the adults and then continued onto James' own generation. "My children, Wyatt, Chris, Prue and Anna. Phoebe and Coup's children, Patience, Felix and Jason. And lastly Paige and Henry's children, Joshua, Luke, Pennie, Ashley and Matthew."

"Don't try to remember all of that." Wyatt muttered though loud enough for all to hear. His mother glared him down.

Piper noticed all of the Wizards and Witches eyes were on James but she didn't try to introduce him. "My name is James Evans, Rune Mage. Chris is my boyfriend and I'm here to make sure you don't try anything underhanded with my new family."

Minerva looked like she was about to argue before she realised something. "You're the one that saw Harry Potter in America?"

James eyed her for a moment but nodded. Charlie hadn't really said if she believe in his innocence or not but if any of those here did it would be her and without a doubt Hagrid. "We keep in contact." James told her simply.

"Evans, is that a common name in the mortal world?" She asked.

"You mean am I related to Lily Evans, Harry's mother?" James asked with a raised eyebrow. They'd already thought of this before hand. "Harry and I share Great Grandparents." Again not a lie.

"So your mother and Lily were cousins?" Minerva asked. James nodded knowing that the Wizarding world could never hope to trace a muggle family tree so far. The only records they had was that Lily had a mother and father and a sister. Anything more distant was irrelevant. "I'm glad he found some family."

"And I'll protect him as family." He spoke coldly to them all to get that across.

"How about we all get some food in our stomachs so you can all get settled in?" Dumbledore suggested obviously not liking the way the conversation was going.

The meal passed uneventfully as general conversations took over tense introductions. Minerva kept glancing at James throughout the meal but according to Phoebe who was sitting opposite him her thoughts weren't suspicious or malicious. She was however thoughtful. This led him to believe that she believed his cover story about being Harry Potter's cousin and didn't suspect the truth.

It was Minerva that offered to show them to their rooms almost two hours later and James followed her in silence up to the seventh floor feeling more and more nervous as he approached the Gryffindor Common Room, his home for most of his teenage life. He was eternally thankful when she turned down a side corridor about fifty metres before the Fat Lady's portrait. They reached an alcove guarded by a stone statue of a Wizard wearing battle robes holding his wand up over his chest.

"Wicca." Minerva declared and the statue came to life, saluted them with the wand and moved to one side. The wall within the alcove unfolded much like the one at Diagon Alley. "Please, make yourselves at home."

James stood to one side as the younger children all dashed into the room beyond the statue. James followed at a more sedate pace and almost sighed in relief at the unfamiliar setting. Stone walls softened by age, a large fireplace alone the far wall sided by large windows with a balcony on the outside. To the left was a long kitchenette and dining table. The rest of the room was set as a living room with six sofas grouped in threes around coffee tables as well as reading chairs dotted around. On the right hand side were three open doors leading to spiral stairs that led to above the common room.

"There are three double rooms and a bathroom up the first stair case, a twin room and two small dorms and a bathroom up the second and third staircases." Minerva told them. "There should be enough beds but if you want something changed then let me know at breakfast in the morning."

"Thank you, Professor." Piper nodded at the older woman.

"Please, call me Minerva." McGonnagal said.

"Very well." Piper nodded not warming up to the woman as much as James expected they would. "What time will breakfast be?"

"Any time between seven and nine." Minerva told her with her normal tip lipped expression rather than the pleasant tone she'd previously used. "Good night."

Minerva left and James sagged onto one of the sofas. "James?"

"Hmm?" James half laid his head on the back of the sofa to look at her.

"Are you ok?" Piper asked.

"Just tired." James lied eyeing the room better. "Paige? Could you orb all of the portraits out into the hallway?"

She looked at him strangely but didn't comment before orbing the five portraits featuring a dozen Wizards and Witches out of the room with a curt gesture and a spoken word. "Why did I just do that?"

"They spy for the Headmaster." James told them all bluntly. "Watch what you say around anything that moves around here."

"You're really paranoid." Patience told him with a snort of amusement.

"Patience." Phoebe warned her quietly. James just shrugged it off and sagged further into his seat.

"Come on mom, just because he hates this place doesn't mean we have to." Patience argued.

"Patience, lay off." Chris snapped.

"I'm going to find a room before he drags the rest of us down with him." Patience turned and pulled Prue and Anna with her onto the furthest set of stairs along with their bags. Piper sent Pennie and Ashley to follow while Wyatt dragged Joshua, Luke, Felix, Jason and Matt up the centre staircase.

"I'm sorry about her, James." Phoebe told him.

"It's not a problem." James stood. "Maybe she's right and I'm blowing this all out of proportion."

"That's bullshit, James." Chris said in much the same tone as he had spoken to Patience a minute before hand. "We all saw how you reacted to that jerk in P3 and when that Dementor attacked us, something that can cause that kind of reaction is something serious."

"Patience is a teenaged girl, James." Paige told him. "She hasn't seen the worst parts of the world yet and if your life's as bad as we think you have every right to act like you do around this place."

"None of us has been in prison for something we didn't do, James." Henry pointed out. "I've seen my share of them and I wouldn't like to be the one locked up in them. Especially for a murder I didn't commit."

"I don't think you can compare Azkaban to a normal Prison, love." Paige told him.

"I know that, well I don't. What's so bad about Azkaban?" Henry asked genuinely curious.

"It's a prison designed for one thing, to incapacitate criminals for their entire lives and to make sure they can't think clearly enough to think about escape and if they do manage to escape to make sure they are never sane enough to live in the normal world." James told him as he forced himself to his feet and headed for the stairs that Wyatt had just taken with the boys. He hefted the green canvas bag on the way.

"Oh crap." Chris said as soon as James had disappeared up the stairs.

"What honey?" Piper frowned at him.

"I can't believe I missed that. He's been talking about his kids having problems believing they aren't permanently screwed up after what happened to them." Chris told them looking at Paige desperately. "He thinks his mind's twisted or something and he'll never be able to have a normal life."

"I've seen cases like that for smaller things then for being locked up in places like Azkaban." Paige told them. "We all need to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Stupid like what?" Chris asked.

"Stupid like a couple of kids I had to look out for that killed themselves because they didn't think they fit in anymore after getting out of jeuvy." Henry sighed.

Chris gaped at the six adults for a moment before turning from them and running to catch up with James. He found Wyatt on the landing. There were two doors to the right of the hall and two on the left, one marked bathroom. "Hey, bro. James is in the far left room, it's the twin room. Josh thought it best for you and James to share it. I think he's worried about him. Honestly so am I."

"I know, Wyatt. I'm working on it." Chris told him. "What about you?"

"I'll stay with the squeakers, at least while I'm here. You think I want to share a room with you two after his threat this morning?" Wyatt chuckled. "Josh, Luke and Felix are in the room opposite yours. I'll be fine with Jason and Matt. At least if they decide to stay up talking they can do it in their heads."

Chris rubbed his face as he laughed. "Thanks."

"I told James to ignore what Patience said but I don't think he will." Wyatt sighed. "Don't worry too much, little bro, but let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I like you like this rather than broody-Chris."

"Funny, Wy." Chris shook his head. "I need to go see him."

"Sure." Wyatt gave his slightly shorter brother a quick hug and slipped passed him.

James sighed as he heard the door open behind him. He was staring out of the window on the right of the room at the Greenhouses and the lake further away. His arms hugged himself. Chris came up behind him and wrapped his own arms around his form. James half turned into the embrace and buried his head under Chris' chin and let his tears fall. Chris and James spent the next two hours standing in the dark as James let his walls fall unknowingly keeping Phoebe, Anna and Pennie up for most of the night. Chris continually talked in low tones to him to soothe him but his presence did more good than anything else. A reminder of who he was now and who he could rely on.

James snuck from the room four hours later in the middle of the night, his panther form making slinking into the corridor easy. He wandered down the hallways slowly moving one step at a time closer to the junction where a right took you down towards the Great Hall and a left took you to the Gryffindor common room. He paused at the junction and lay on the ground staring at the Fat Lady's sleeping form. He eventually fell asleep like that, his ears pricked up for any sound and his tail slowly swishing across the floor.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

Chris and James' room

Chris woke at almost half seven feeling rather tired and disorientated. It was strange enough waking in an unfamiliar place such as this but it was tougher after having spent half the night soothing his boyfriend. This thought brought him to another realisation, he was lying on his back which meant that James should be lying with his head on his chest and his arm around him. They swapped places without realising it most of the time and Chris had woken up just as many times snuggled up against James' side as the other way around. Either way, James always woke up first but would never move out of bed until they were both up, his boyfriend always took the time to soothe Chris with light touches even while he started to wake up. He found that he missed the feeling.

He pulled himself out of bed and threw on a fresh set of clothes noticing that James hadn't rummaged through the bag for his own which meant he was wearing the clothes they'd taken off last night. He quickly walked down stairs and into the kitchen where he found the other early wakers of the extended family. His mom and Henry were exploring the Kitchenette area while Coup was entertaining Matt out on the Balcony. The others wouldn't be up for at least an hour under normal circumstances and normally Chris would be one of them and James would have lain in bed waiting for him.

"Chris?" His mom greeted him. "I didn't think you'd be up so soon."

"Mom, have you seen James this morning?" Chris asked going a slight red at having to talk to his mom about him and his boyfriend's sleeping habits. "James wasn't in bed when I woke up."

"Maybe he went for a walk?" Henry asked.

Chris took one look at his mother before darting out of the door and into the hallway. He looked in both directions and picked the one he already knew. He almost ran along it to the junction and was about to turn the corner when he spotted Shadow lying against the far wall, his head on his feet and his ears pinned back against his head. Chris sat on the floor against his boyfriend's side and tentatively reached out. A slow rise of his chest made Chris more confident that he wouldn't discover his boyfriend dead and he gently ran his hand down along the fur.

James stirred and swung his head around, obviously recognising the feel of Chris' hand. He yawned wide and Chris gave him a cheeky grin. "You had me worried."

James blinked sleepy eyes at him before pushing his head under Chris' hand and lifting it. Chris scratched him behind the ears automatically and stood with the Panther as he pushed himself to his feet. Chris had to adjust his grip and the form rippled and instead of a four legged panther, James was soon staring back at him with his hand against his neck.

"Sorry. I just couldn't sleep and wanted to come get used to at least one of my ghosts." James sighed and flicked a look at the portrait behind him.

"A portrait?" Chris frowned eyeing the rest of the still sleeping portraits.

"Not here." James told him and they walked back to their new common room side by side. As soon as they were back in the room, James sagged onto one of the sofas. Chris sat next to him and he leaned against him. "That was the entrance to my old common room. I lived there for five years and most of the memories I have of my friends happened in there."

"Oh." Chris went slightly pale at the idea.

"It's like that portrait is hiding every bad thing that happened to me behind it." James sighed. "I don't know if I can do this."

"I know you can, just remember you can talk to me and if I'm not here you can talk to mom. She's just as worried about you as I am." Chris told him. James let his head sag onto Chris' shoulder and let his eyes fall shut. Chris could feel the slight shaking in his body and knew he was picturing some of those memories.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Breakfast went by in much the same way that supper had the day before although it had been hard to get everybody up especially the older girls who were begrudging the old fashioned shower in their bathroom. Phoebe had disappeared up to the older girls' room for half an hour and come down with Patience and the two had been the last to come down. Once everyone was there James had been the one to show them down to the Great Hall.

Since everybody had been down at Breakfast with all of the Professors, Dumbledore had brought up the matter of the wards and whether it would be possible for James to look at them. He had, of course, agreed since he wanted to know if it would be possible to adapt them to block out demonic forms of travel. He had however warned them that playing with the wards would disrupt any magic cast within it but Dumbledore had promised that the Professors wouldn't do anything to make the task more arduous then it already was.

Piper had pointed out to the family that this rule applied to them as well and they would get the grand tour, courtesy of Flitwick and Sprout while James worked. Chris of course wasn't planning on leaving James' side and Piper didn't even bother to ask him what he'd do.

James watched as the rest all left the hall and summoned the Tome of Runes to him before flipping it open at the centre pages. He placed his hands on them and focused on common things that go wrong with ancient wards. He was rewarded with a common faults list.

"This is going to take a while." James sighed before standing. "Could you move the tables right out of the way?"

"Sure." Chris told him and waved his hands out to the sides. The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables flew up into the air, flipped over and landed on top of the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables before the whole lot lifted off the ground and flew to the sides of the room.

"I don't know what this is going to look like so be ready for anything." James warned him before reaching out with his runic magic and beckoning Hogwarts' Runic Matrix to come into being within the Great Hall.

Light blossomed as a small speck in the air in front of them before flying up into the centre of the room and almost looked like a sun exploding as it blew out in all directions to reveal a writhing mass of Runic sequences. "Oh dear."

"What?" Chris asked stunned at the sight.

"It's mutated." James told him.

"How can you tell that?" Chris asked.

"The sequences are changing ever so slightly. See that one there?" James pointed at a long one just as two of the rune morphed into knew ones. "It all means the same thing but its like something deciding how to protect someone rather than just if they should."

"But what does that mean?" Chris asked.

"Just that the people that used to tell me that Hogwarts was sentient were actually right." James told him with a small grin.

"Aren't the ones on the house sentient?"

"Yes, in the way that they learn from situations but this one is actually more alive than anything else." James shook his head and reached out for one of the ward's sequences. He studied it for what it was meant for before explaining it to Chris. "This one was designed to notify the school nurse if any person within the wards was dying of physical injuries. It was of course made a thousand years ago and times have changed. It's changed itself to include a warning if any person is strongly inclined to kill themselves."

Chris raised his eyebrows in surprise. "So it understands the concept of killing yourself?"

"Precisely my point." James agreed. "It knows how humans work. And see this strand attached to the new part; its designed to flood the person with feelings of comfort and love to try to stop them. I think it's why people with bad backgrounds always feel at home here."

"Like you, you mean?" Chris hit the point once again.

"Yeah, I've always loved this place far more than my old friends did. I think the school wards sensed my bad upbringing and tried to make me feel more welcome." James told him.

"So what are you going to do?" Chris asked.

"I'm going to find the sequences that have mutated and decide whether it's worth removing them and also find any outdated wards and remove them if they are hazardous." James told him before pulling forwards a new strand deciding to keep the other one intact.

"What's this one?" Chris asked pointing to a strangely coloured one about an hour of working later. They'd settled into a routine with James sitting on the ground pulling sequences to him and studying them while Chris circled the matrix looking for anything too tangled. He was the best for the job out of anyone else there since he had watched every step of the house's wards even if he couldn't understand more than the odd Rune here and there.

James finished checking over the current one before releasing it to find its place in the Matrix before looking over at where Chris was pointing. He frowned and reached out for it. It came to flow in front of him and Chris followed it to sit behind James and pulled him into a loose hug.

"This is strange." James said after a few moments. "See the dark blue colour of the runes on the inside?"

"Yeah." Chris nodded against the back of his head.

"Well its not part of the wards originally. The school's wards have absorbed it so that it can alter it." James paused to access it. "And it was cast as a normal ward not pieced together by a Rune Master like the original school wards."

"What are you going to do?" Chris asked.

"Hmm." James mumbled before focusing on the cast wards to work out what they did, what he found he wasn't happy about and the rest became much clearer to him. "Who would cast a ward in a school which causes harm to any intruder?"

"Maybe somebody placed them as a trap?" Chris suggested.

"Except it's placed around a room down in the dungeons, not exactly the place to set a trap." James pointed out. "But it is a trap all the same."

"So what's with the gold runes around it?" Chris asked.

"That the school's own version of a containment ward to protect any student that passes the trap from curse damage. It casts a shield around the victim to reflect the trap's spells." James said.

"What are you going to do?" James asked.

"The school's wards are enough to protect anybody but it's using power that the actual wards could do with having to spare." James told him, "So I'm going to destroy it and feed the power into the other sequences."

James set to doing just that. He knew that, given enough luck, the school wards would reassimilate themselves once the trap was destroyed so he started with the root of the problem. He started picking apart the trap runes one at a time making sure that he didn't trigger it or anything while he worked in case anybody was in the area or so he didn't accidentally blow apart a corridor down in the dungeons. As he picked it apart he found the intricacies of the trap. It prevented eavesdropping by bursting the eardrums, sneaking in by blistering and shredding the feet and numerous other perceived crimes with fitting punishments and even if any damage could be repaired by magic it was way over the top when a simple triggered stunning spell would suffice.

The school's wards had interfered because it was designed to protect the health of the students and having them mauled by a trap was definitely against its self set rules. As he worked he realised that he was being helped by the wards towards his eventual goal. Any time he weakened a Rune with his own magic the school wards came in and flooded the rune until it began to crack and all it took then was James directing the break so that the energy could be absorbed.

The door slamming open almost undid everything he was trying to do. He jumped even in Chris' arms and the sequence snapped back into the whole Matrix and they felt a dull rumbling under their feet that brought dust from the wooden beams above their heads.

"What do you think you are doing you over confident brat!?" Snape's voice grated on his nerve.

"I should be the one asking that, Professor Snape." James told him as he pushed himself to his feet working out the aches in his knees as he did so. "Did you not pay attention in Charms class when they told you about interrupting somebody in the middle of changing wards and did it not occur to your arrogant mind that interrupting me when I'm connected to a ward as powerful as Hogwarts' might cause serious damage?"

Snape went red in the face as James called him arrogant and his wand was pointed at James in an instant. The Matrix imploded inwards and vanished with a blast of air and an irritated ripple went through the castle like with a cat when its owner was distracted from petting it. Hogwarts had been enjoying the tune up to her wards. Chris snapped out his hands before a curse could be cast and Snape was sent flying head over heels backwards into the right door that was still closed just as Dumbledore and Minerva came running into the room. Dumbledore looked down at Snape in shock before looking up at Chris and James.

"What is this about, boys?" Dumbledore asked.

"Ask that infernal prat." James told him simply. "Or get the school nurse to check his mind since he obviously believes that making a dramatic entrance into a room where somebody is connected to the most powerful wards in history is a good idea."

"Severus, is this true?" Dumbledore shook his head at the man as he struggled to his feet and accepted his wand from Minerva. "You should know better than that."

"The idiot was tampering with the wards on my personal rooms, he's destroyed a potion I have been brewing for the last two months." Snape spat. "He's incompetent and shouldn't be allowed near the wards. He can barely be old enough to be out of school."

James laughed to spite the man. "You complete idiot. Were you not listening this morning when I said, categorically, no magic unless you wanted it destroyed? Do potions no longer count as magic." James shook his head. "Harry was right about you after all, you are all incompetent."

Snape's eyes narrowed and Chris brought his hands up in warning. "Why were you tampering with the wards around his rooms?" Dumbledore asked suspiciously.

"I did not know they were around his room, only that the school wards had reacted against them as a safety risk and neutralised them. It is small things like that which are causing larger problems with powering the wards." James told the three of them. "Really, Headmaster, I didn't believe half of what Harry said about some of his professors but this man attacks fourteen year olds without provocation and now he casts traps inside a school which could permanently maim eleven year olds. Is there a quota of idiots that you have to achieve to get through each year. According to Harry we're currently up to four and that doesn't count the ones that tried to outright murder a student."

"Mr. Evans!" Minerva snapped.

"Oh, we mustn't forget the ones to accuse an innocent fifteen year old of murder without even listening to him." James chuckled derisively not believing quite how therapeutic this was. Chris obviously saw it too since he made no attempt to stop him. "Did it even occur to you that the kid was framed?"

"That is enough." Snape snapped. "We wont be spoke to like this by a boy!"

"Headmaster Dumbledore, perhaps you should ask your Potions Professor what this is about?" James snapped out and summoned the ward Matrix again. The ten foot sphere appeared just like it had the first time and even passed him the relevant sequence. "You'll find that the dark blue Runes represent the trap cast by your Potions Professor. I'm sure a man of your limited knowledge of Runes can at least notice the curse built in. In fact I could probably have a demonstration cast on Snape to show you."

"That wont be necessary." Dumbledore turned his eyes to look at Snape. "Why do you have such a trap around your rooms?"

"I have delicate potions ingredients in there, I can't have any blubbering idiot of a student rushing in and upsetting everything." Snape told him without shame. "Nothing there is permanent."

"I disagree." James told him. "It is only temporary to people with Wizarding blood. Any of Chris' family could be seriously and permanently blinded, deafened and crippled by getting lost and entering the wrong door."

Minerva gasped but James didn't relent. "The only reason this hasn't already backfired is because the school's wards are indeed alive and countered the trap with its own protective spell cast over any student approaching the door to these rooms." James told them. "I work for social services, Headmaster Dumbledore, and we consider gouging out a child's eyes, sticking nails in their ears and glass in their feet as being grossly illegal, not to mention immoral and downright disgusting. That man shouldn't be within a hundred miles of any child."

"Severus, please wait for me in my office." Dumbledore told Snape.

"But…" Snape tried but Minerva's severe look stalled her. He backed out of the room with a threatening glare at James.

"Can you remove the trap?" Minerva asked him.

James considered several sarcastic remarks but turned his attention on the newly deformed sequence. His slip had detonated the magic. "I was already half way through when that blubbering idiot came barging through the door." James used Snape's own comment against him. "The trap detonated when I jumped. It has undoubtedly mixed with all of his potions ingredients. You can tell him that he wont be using those rooms any time soon. I'll have to pick it apart extremely carefully now."

"That was the explosion we heard?" Minerva asked.

"Unless Wyatt got bored then probably." James told them. "In either case that man's stupidity could have killed people. How can you accept him as a teacher?"

"He is a teacher of the highest calibre." Dumbledore argued.

"Spare me the crap." James snapped. "Don't forget I've spoken to Harry. I know what that man did to him in his fifth year. There are two telepaths and three Empaths in Chris' family and they all know the basic rules and what it means to rape somebody's mind." James felt Chris tense up beside him, none of them had known that part of his life. "It took me two years to bring his mind back into place and it's still very screwed up. You prepared him for Azkaban when you let that bastard rape his mind and break down any natural mental defence he had and then you locked him away with Dementors."

"He is a murderer." Dumbledore told him.

"If I hear you call him that again I'll orb you to purgatory and I assure you I doubt you can apparate out of there." Chris snarled.

"I've seen Harry's memories of that night, Dumbledore. I know the truth of what happened." James snarled. "Anybody who knows Harry could have guessed what happened and yet you all, who proclaimed him a hero, jumped to conclusions. Get out before I turn this trap on you."

Dumbledore was about to speak when James actually growled at him. Minerva touched the old man on the arm and the two retreated. As soon as the door closed James sagged and Chris caught him. James turned and hugged Chris to him but forced the tears to remain locked away for the time being as he turned his attention to the sequence. He spent the next six hours of the day tearing the trap down and smoothing over the damage it had inflicted on the school's wards.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

****

The Den

"It was awesome!" Chris told Wyatt as he carded his fingers through a sleeping James' hair as he napped away the drain from tampering with the wards for the whole day. There was a tray of food on the table that Wyatt had brought up for the three of them to eat since the rest of the family were down eating supper in the Great Hall. "He completely ripped into them. It was amazing!"

"Down boy." Wyatt chuckled.

Chris went red. "Shut it, Wy." Chris glared. "Paige said it was good for him."

"Everyone needs to rant sometimes." Wyatt told him. "He looks more relaxed."

"He does actually." Chris said staring down at James' peaceful face. Normally when he slept he was restless unless Chris stroked him like he was now but he thought that even if he stopped James would sleep easy right now. "It's strange."

"What is?" Wyatt asked.

"Sam warned me that James had nightmares a lot but I've never seen one." Chris told his brother.

"Sam?"

"His college friend, the one from P3." Chris said.

"What kind of nightmares?" Wyatt asked.

"According to Sam, the screaming and thrashing kind." Chris sighed and stroked James' neck gently.

"Maybe because he feels protected from his memories with you." Wyatt told him. "He obviously feels protective of you."

"I know he does." Chris sighed. "I found him as Shadow this morning down the hallways staring at a portrait. He said it was his school common room."

"Did he sleep at all last night?" Wyatt asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought he fell asleep before me but he'd obviously slept out there for most of the time." Chris sighed. "I'm scared his nightmares are going to get worse here and I'll be going home with you next week."

"You know mom will look after him, and Aunt Paige might not have his training but she knows what to look out for." Wyatt told him.

"I can't believe what these people did to him. I can't even imagine it." Chris dropped his head. "That Dementor we ran into was horrible. Being locked up with them for eighteen months must have been unbearable."

"Let's hope they don't work out who he is and throw him back in there." Wyatt told him.

"I wont let them." Chris gritted his teeth and looked up with fiery eyes at his brother. "They wont hurt him again."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	22. The Promise

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; **There is a brief NC-17 scene in this chapter. It is enclosed with a start and an end note and is not needed for the main plot of the story. I will be royally irritated if people read it and then complain that it is there. Gay people exist so deal with it!**

Chapter 22; The Promise

**Hogwarts**

_The darkness pressed in on him from all sides, the cold walls stretched up on all four sides but he couldn't see the ceiling that he knew blocked him in like the lid of a coffin. The smell of iron pervaded his nose and even though he couldn't see his tomb's entrance he knew it was there. He shivered as he lay on his back trying to ignore the walls that seemed to lean in at him every time he turned slightly away from them. He wanted to scream but he couldn't get the air into his lungs._

James' eyes burst open and a pained cry escaped his lips. Sweaty sheets clung to his torso and he wrestled them off and gulped in great breaths to try to calm his panicking mind. He turned his head around the room and concentrated on calming his raging heart, so out of control that he could feel it beating inside his chest in the suddenly dreadful silence of the bedroom.

A soft groan made him remember his boyfriend for the first time wince waking up and he turned and stared at Chris in surprise for a moment deciding in an instant that his renewed nightmares wasn't something Chris needed to know just before he returned to San Francisco for college. He slid back down gently and placed his hand on Chris' bare chest and began slowly soothing the man back into sleep. He knew by the darkness in the room that it was still too early to get up but to be honest with himself he was too scared to dare try to sleep again. Or even to close his eyes and he hated himself for that fear.

Chris settled down again and James offered him a small kiss in apology before he slid off of the bed for the second night in a row. He slipped on his clothing with a Panther's silence before slipping out of the room and down the hall to the toilet before slipping down the stairs into the common room. The fire flared to life with his presence and James paused for a moment to take in the painfully familiar concept of walking down into a darkened common room. He'd always been one of the first to wake up when at Hogwarts and it wasn't uncommon for him to be the first to awaken the common room.

He paused for a few minutes trying to work out what he was going to do but in the end he walked into the kitchen and began searching through cupboards for ingredients that he had seen the day before. He worked in silence for two hours making an assortment of cookies, and breakfast items that could be eaten when they cooled down. He might as well make himself useful if he was up this early.

He finished making some pancakes and slipped them into the section of the oven needed to keep them warm and made himself a cup of hot chocolate before he went out onto the balcony and leaned against the stone railing with the mug between his fingers.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he stood there staring rather sightlessly across the Lake out onto the Scottish Highlands before his hearing picked up voices from within the common room. He didn't bother to turn to actually make out the words but he recognised Piper's voice and a lower male voice which could only be Leo's, Coup's or Henry's, but the voice was too low to make out which of the three it was. He heard the door behind him swing open and turned to look at Henry. "Good morning." Henry smiled at him.

"Morning." James smiled and took a sip from his chocolate. "Sleep well?"

"Well enough." Henry nodded at him. "You've gone and put our dear Piper off balance."

"Sorry?" James frowned in confusion.

"We guessed it was you that made that feast in there." Henry chuckled. "Piper's found herself with nothing to do."

James smiled at the man. "I was up early."

"How early?" The man asked with a frown.

James shrugged. "An hour or so. I was bored."

Henry smiled at him and walked up to his side before looking out across the scenery as he leaned on the railing. James turned back to the way he had been standing. "What do you think of the school so far?"

"Honestly, I think it's awesome." Henry told him with a worried frown as if gauging James' reaction.

James gave him a small smile in return. "I love this castle even if it was just because of my childhood. It's just the people that I don't like." James grinned at the confused man. "The castle's wards have evolved since they were made. Chris and I discovered that they actively seek out children with problems and make them feel welcome."

"That's impressive." Henry sounded unsure.

"It's incredible." James agreed.

They stood in silence for a time before Henry turned and looked at James with a pained look. "So, why are you up so early?"

"Did Piper put you up to this?" James asked him as he tried to hide his grin.

"How did you know that?" Henry groaned.

"It's a knack." James shook his head.

"I get that enough from Paige." Henry laughed. "But seriously."

"Just woke up and couldn't get back to sleep." James half lied. He had _chosen _not to sleep after all.

"If you say so." Henry wasn't fooled.

"Please, Henry." James pushed himself off of the railing. "Just leave this one alone. We've got enough on our plates already."

"Chris was rather worried when you weren't there yesterday when he woke up." Henry hinted.

"Oh, alright." James shot Henry a grateful smile and the man reached out and squeezed James' shoulder and returned the smile.

James walked back inside, shared a few brief words with Piper before slipping back upstairs. After getting a towel from his room he took a brief shower before silently creeping back into the room. He slipped a pair of boxers and jeans on before sliding into the bed next to Chris. Chris was cold since James, in his haste to get out from the captivity of the sheet, had unthinkingly left Chris exposed to the crisp morning breeze in only his boxer shorts. As soon as James, fresh from the shower, snuggled up against Chris' cold skin, Chris turned into James who rolled onto his back. Chris snuggled up to James' side with a groan of appreciation and James felt a real smile spread across his face for the first time since waking up after his nightmare.

He pulled the sheet up slightly but had to manoeuvre it so it covered Chris further than himself. He still couldn't stand even covering his waist with it like he normally did. He lay with his cheek pressed against his sleeping boyfriend's hair. He couldn't stand to shut his eyes in the oppressive silence of the room so he simply stared up at the ceiling, glad only that he could see it in the dim light coming through the window.

He heard when the three boys across the hall emerged from their room and went down in the search of food but Chris seemed content to sleep until about an hour after James had rejoined him. As Chris started to rise out of sleep James began tracing figures of eight in the small of his back. Chris sighed out a moment later and placed a lingering kiss on James' chest.

"It's nice to have my teddy bear back." Chris muttered sleepily.

"Morning love." James whispered and kissed his hair gently. Chris' hand came up to stroke gently on James' stomach and James shuddered out a breath. His hand moved down to stroke up his jean clad leg.

"Why are you in jeans?" Chris looked up at James who smiled weakly.

"I was up earlier, had a shower and couldn't be bothered to get undressed again." James told him.

Chris studied him for a moment before pushing himself up to lean over James before lowering his head to kiss James on the lips. James returned the loving kiss and ran his hands up Chris' back and carded his fingers through the sleep ruffled hair with one hand while the other stroked the back of his neck. Chris pulled away and set a small kiss on James' forehead. "I'm here for you, no matter when or why. Please promise me you'll remember that?"

James leant up and kissed the base of his boyfriend's throat. "I know and I promise." James told him as he put his head back down on the pillow. "I love you."

Chris shifted his weight and sat straddling James' lap. James pulled himself up and hugged his boyfriend to him. "I love you too." Chris whispered in his ear before pulling back to study him carefully again. "You had a nightmare didn't you?"

"Chris, you don't have to worry." James told him.

"Stop that, James." Chris told him sternly yet without anger. "I want to worry, I want to know what you feel because I want to be able to understand what you're going through. So I can help you!"

James deflated somewhat. "It wasn't that bad a nightmare. Nothing like I used to get." James kissed him gently on the lips. "I haven't even had a nightmare since I started sleeping in the same bed as you."

"Sam warned me that I might have to comfort you after nightmares." Chris told him.

"What? You didn't tell me that." James frowned, unnerved that Sam had been telling Chris about his behaviour.

"It doesn't matter how you react to things, James." Chris told him. "It doesn't change the fact I love you. I didn't tell you he told me because to me it doesn't matter. I would have been here for you regardless."

James stared at him for a moment before dropping his head down and set himself to staring at Chris' stomach as he fought to control the slight tremble that was starting to run up his back as they talked about his emotions. Chris gathered him up into his arms and ran his hands up and down the bare skin of his back to soothe him without comment. James turned his head and placed his cheek against Chris' chest listening to his heartbeat with Panther enhanced hearing.

"Could you talk about the nightmare?" Chris asked after a few minutes. James looked at him but nodded.

"I've had it before." James told him. "It's me in my cell in Azkaban. There isn't any door but I can smell iron and feel the cold draughts. I feel claustrophobic again and the walls seem to close in on me."

Chris noticed that he seemed to shrink in on himself as he spoke as if he was trying to space himself from everything else. Chris loosened his grip but hugged him tenderly. "Is that why you got up?" He asked after a moment. "Because it was dark and you were closed in?"

James smiled up at him before nodding. "I couldn't stand the sheet even just to my waist and the longer I laid here the closer the walls seemed to get. I needed to distract myself and get into the open."

"What time was that?"

"I'm not sure." James frowned in thought. "About four hours ago?"

"What did you do for four hours?" Chris chuckled.

"Spoilt your mum's fun by cooking breakfast." James told him with a weak smirk. Chris' chuckle turned into full out laughter and together they got out of bed and after a brief kiss, Chris started to get changed and James settled into the last of his clothing. They had another day of sorting out the school's wards today and James was looking forward to the distraction.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later that week**

James had slept restlessly for most of the week but he had had enough sleep since Chris had made him promise to wake him up after a nightmare and James' boyfriend was getting very good at distracting him enough for him to forget his fears and always stayed awake until after James had fallen asleep again. Still he was magically strained from constantly purifying the Hogwarts Wards though now they actually seemed to hum in pleasure all around the school as they rejoiced being fully charged once more. The school seemed to be fresher, like a old person suddenly given new youth and all the Professors could feel it.

He'd just gently released the Rune Matrix and he felt a loving touch against his mind. Hogwarts had granted him a rare honour that not even the Headmaster had. He'd become a part of the Wards, part of the school that had been the first home he could remember. He now had control of the Wards though he didn't think he should mention that to Dumbledore. It wasn't as if he could do much anyway. There were very few exceptions in the wards and James wouldn't be able to change them like he could the wards around the Halliwell Manor. They would report to him if a Demon entered through them though.

James turned to find Chris laying on one of the House table with his eyes shut. James felt guilty all of a sudden, though not for the first time that week, for keeping him up at night with his worries. James was halfway to his boyfriend when Chris bolted upright with a gasp. James paused at his side as Chris got his bearings knowing that he'd just had a premonition. "James?" Chris frowned.

"Yup." James sat on the table cross legged next to his boyfriend. "Anything interesting?"

"Demons fighting Dementors. Demons shimmering into cells and releasing prisoners." Chris looked extremely worried. "Laughing and mad prisoners."

James flinched so much he nearly fell from the table. Chris reached out and caught him by the arm. "Azkaban. It's the only place it could be."

Chris nodded and stared at James carefully before reminding him. "I love you, James."

James gave him a sad little smile but leaned forwards to kiss him as Chris' hands came up to grip the sides of his head touching him for the first time since having the premonition. James gasped as he found himself glimpsing the same premonition and nothing Chris could do could stop him falling backwards off of the table and onto the floor. He could feel his face pale and his hands shaking as Chris scrambled off of the table to hold him tightly.

James snapped up his head up to face him with fear shining out of his emerald eyes. Chris almost recoiled as he saw that the light that had grown steadily since he had met James had completely vanished. James saw that slight flinch and in an instant his form rippled into Shadow, his protection from the Dementors who he could even now feel creeping up on him. Chris sighed and without a care to his teeth grabbed his head. "I won't let them put you in there."

James swung his head around to face him and nodded once. Before he stood to follow Chris from the room. He knew that if he wasn't in this form he'd be having a panic attack and he knew that Chris knew it too since he didn't for an instant remove his hand from scratching lightly at the back of his neck.

"Mom! Dad! Aunt Paige! Aunt Phoebe!" Chris yelled at the top of his voice as soon as they were out in the open where the family were gathering. James crouched low to the ground as soon as he spotted them all and Chris paused. "It's ok, James."

James forced himself to relax from his instincts to flee and hide and forced himself forwards at a slow trot as Chris dashed across the grass to his family. Matt leapt at James as soon as he saw him in his panther form and was soon joined by Jason. He tensed as the two youngest boys hugged and stroked him but found himself relaxing as Chris told his mother, father, Aunts, Uncles and Wyatt what he had seen.

"Why is he in Panther form?" Coup asked.

"And his mind is shut so tight it's hard to even sense it." Phoebe added.

Chris winced and James looked up at him. "We made a mistake." He blushed slightly. "We kissed and he got the premonition from me."

"So?" Wyatt frowned in confusion though he actually didn't understand.

"Seeing cells, insane prisoners and Dementors all of a sudden wasn't good for him." Chris sighed. "I think he doesn't feel it as bad as a Panther."

"But he can't deal with it either." Paige sighed as she looked across at James knowing he could hear every word said.

James nudged at Matt and Jason with his head and the two scampered off to make Joshua play with them. The seventeen year old looked between them and James, then at the adults and nodded before working to distract all of the children for a while. He was a sharp kid. James turned to the group and rippled back into his human form. He felt his chest tighten and for an instant saw Phoebe, Anna and Pennie, the three Empaths, flinch before he slammed his walls down around his mind.

The adults winced as the saw the rather rigid way he stood and the dead, cold look to his eyes and he stepped slightly away from Chris as his boyfriend tried to hug him unwilling to show emotion of any kind around them. "We've got enough to deal with right now then dealing with my loose screws." James told them. "We need to tell the Order what we saw so they can prevent it. People from Azkaban shouldn't be in the real world."

"James. I don't want to hear that from you again." Piper told him as she took a half step towards him. "You don't have 'loose screws' and you belong here, not in that prison!"

James turned to look at her and sighed but as soon as he let his grip over his emotions slide he felt his hands begin to shake so he reigned them in again. Chris stood stubbornly at his side and James felt sorry for shirking him half a minute ago and moved into his side and let himself fall under his protective arm that settled over his shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Phoebe asked.

"Wyatt, orb up to the Headmaster and tell him what we saw." James ordered without emotion and Wyatt gave him and then Chris a concerned look before doing as ordered.

"Mom, what's happening?" Patience asked as she appeared beside the group. As second eldest of the children, they shouldn't expect that Joshua could keep her distracted. James flinched further into James side as he remembered her words from that first night here. Chris tightened his grip.

"Chris got a premonition about Azkaban." Her mother, Phoebe, told her. "Wyatt's just gone to tell the Wizards."

"Azkaban?" Joshua asked as he appeared at her shoulder having obviously failed to keep the remaining eight children from following the older girl. "What's that?"

"The Wizarding prison that they locked James up in." Paige spoke out without thinking though she was obviously distracted by other things.

"Paige!" Piper gasped and Chris inhaled sharply. James tensed and his eyes stared passed them all into nowhere, avoiding looking at the children and seeing their reactions.

"Oh god!" Paige choked. "James, I…"

"It doesn't matter, Paige." James told her as he looked straight at her with expressionless eyes. "They would find out eventually what happened to Harry Potter. Best they hear it from us than from Wizards."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked him. James nodded and turned to stare at Joshua and then at Patience, they were only three and a half to four years younger than him.

"You know I used to be Harry Potter?" The two nodded as did the other eight children. They'd all gleaned it from somewhere whether it was Telepathy or from older siblings. "When I was your age, Patience, a Wizard called Voldemort murdered my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin with my wand to frame me. The Wizards arrested me and there was barely a real trial before they locked me away in Azkaban. I was there for eighteen months before I managed to escape and I fled to America."

"Eighteen months?" Patience frowned.

"It's a long time to be in that place without any hope to lean on." James told her before shunning the conversation as he spied Dumbledore and Wyatt crossing the grounds with Charlie, Hermione and Moody close on their heels.

"Not a word of this to anybody." Piper told all ten children. "Understood?"

Joshua nodded in a rush and the others followed though most were too confused to know what was going on. Dumbledore came to a halt in front of them and James noticed Hermione and Charlie eyeing him in concern. "Thank you ever so much for your warning."

"Of course, Headmaster." Leo told him simply. "We were just discussing what could be done to head off the Demons before they can attack."

"Are you sure it is a future event?" He asked.

They looked at James and Chris. James glanced up at Chris and they both turned back to the Charmed Ones with nods. "Maybe tonight. It was dark." Chris frowned as James winced beside him.

"I'm afraid that could mean any time. Light rarely reaches Azkaban." Dumbledore told him. "Would you all come with us to our Headquarters? I've called a full meeting and we could use your input."

Piper nodded her agreement. "How are we getting there?"

"I thought since it would best for all of us to go we'd go by Portkey." Dumbledore said with a slight twinkle in his eyes. "Floo is a rather dizzying experience for the first time."

James found himself wincing. He hated both forms of travel, Floo for it's horrible sensation but Portkeys through bad memories. He'd only used them a few times and the last three times, including his trip to Azkaban, had been unbearable for him.

"What's a Portkey?" Piper asked James warily.

"Do you know those tunnel rides at funfairs where the ceiling and walls change places?" James asked. "Imagine flying through an endless series of them."

"It's an unforgettable experience." Dumbledore grinned happily and gestured collectively for them all to approach. James' shaking grew every moment as he tried to find a way to get out of using the Portkey, there was no way he could take it without losing control of his emotions and breaking down. He could already see traps everywhere and for a horrible moment he could see Dumbledore tricking him into taking a one way Portkey into a cell in Azkaban.

"You know I shouldn't Portkey at the moment, Headmaster." Hermione told him gently with a quick glance at James. James felt his breath catch but didn't know what to think. She was seeing through his faked fortitude like she always had but was this all about that or did she really have a valid excuse. "And we don't know how wards like Potter Manor will react to a Rune Master being Portkeyed in. Perhaps we should apparate with him?"

James felt Dumbledore's eyes settle on him and James controlled himself enough to nod. "It depends on the wards, sometimes they'll react badly if the actual owner isn't giving permission." James played along though it wasn't that hard. If he had working Runes on him when he travelled through the wards it would react against him. Dumbledore didn't have to know that as the actual owner of the wards they wouldn't effect him ever.

"Perhaps that is best." Dumbledore nodded. "Charlie, my boy, perhaps you should do the apparating. We wouldn't want to stress Hermione."

"I'm staying with James." Chris declared. Dumbledore smiled the same grandfatherly smile that had always soothed James but it only irritated him and set his emotions off again. James turned away from Dumbledore to hide his pained expression and moved away to Charlie and Hermione who quickly covered their concerned looks as Dumbledore told everyone to touch the Portkey rope. A moment later they vanished and James sagged.

Chris caught him with a grunt of surprise. "I didn't think you'd appreciate a Portkey trip, you've never liked them." Hermione told James with a shrug.

"Not to mention you went slightly pale at the idea." Charlie pointed out. "Haven't known anybody hate Portkeys that much."

Chris tightened his grip sensing there was more to it. James looked around at him. "They send people to Azkaban with Portkeys." Chris' mouth shut with a click and he leant down to kiss James on the temple. James smiled back before pulling himself up and turning on Hermione.

"Shouldn't travel by Portkey at the moment?" James asked Hermione. Hermione tried to hide her smile but Charlie wasn't so controlled and he glanced at his wife with a sappy look that James easily caught. He'd crossed the gap in a second and held Hermione by the shoulders easily. "Seriously?"

"We're having twins." Hermione's announcement completely erased all of James' current fear and pain and he felt happiness of a kind he'd never felt before. He hugged her tightly and pulled back to look at Charlie. He moved and hugged the man. "You're going to be an Uncle, Ha…James."

James ignored her slip and pulled back from Charlie to hug her again. "I don't believe this!" James laughed happily before backing away to stand with Chris who hugged him around the waist from behind.

"We need to get moving or the Headmaster will get suspicious." Chris told him not wanting to spoil the mood. "I'm happy for you but I don't want you getting caught."

"He's right, Hermione." Charlie nodded and led Hermione away by the arm. James caught up to her and walked close beside. He knew the whole hugging thing had been risky in case somebody had seen them and he didn't regret it but this time he'd be a bit more subtle. Chris grabbed his hand in his own and they walked together like that.

"James?" Charlie asked after a moment. "We're naming my best friend, Cissa, as Godmother but we're not going to publicly name a Godfather at the moment."

James frowned at him in confusion but Hermione nudged him playfully seeing his clueless look. "We want you to be the Godfather."

"Hermione, you know I'd love to but…"

"Great, that's settled then." Hermione grinned.

"Hermione!" James shook his head. "I'm a convicted murderer. They'd never let me be responsible for them."

"They won't know." Hermione told him. "And we're not giving up on the hope that you'll be cleared."

"Don't be ridiculous Hermione." James turned to her as soon as they were out of the wards. James felt them brush out in farewell to him. "I don't care about being cleared anymore. I have my life right here with Chris and his family."

Chris smiled happily at that and Hermione smiled back at him. "We want the best for the twins, James." Charlie told him. "The person that we think would be the most reliable if something should happen to us is you without a question. You'd look after them no matter what happens to them or what others think. I would choose you over most of my family for that matter. They showed they couldn't be trusted to love unconditionally. You'll be named in our will and the spell will be cast to Harry Potter and that's that."

James stared in shock at the man. "That doesn't change the fact that they'll never give them to me." James told them.

"I'm working on a spell that will notify you if something happens to us. You'll know instantly." Hermione told him. "And Cissa has been told what we plan to do and has agreed not to fight you if that happens."

"You're amazing you know?" James grinned at her.

"With everything that is going on I think you're the amazing one." Chris muttered next to his ear before nipping on it. Hermione and Charlie laughed as James blushed.

"I think you should keep hold of this one, James." Charlie told him.

"As if I have a choice." James grinned and leant back into Chris' arms.

"We need to go." Hermione pointed out. "Charlie can apparate straight into the Order meeting room."

"Are you ready?" Charlie asked in concern. "They'll all be there."

James pulled himself up and straightened his features before pulling up his walls. Hermione winced as the light from his eyes vanished. "It's horrible isn't it?" Chris asked Hermione and Charlie. James frowned at him. "Your eyes go dark whenever you hide your emotions."

James winced but shrugged. "They'll always brighten for you, love." James told him before reaching out to Hermione as he held onto Chris' hand. Charlie closed his eyes to concentrate before a massive crack sounded across the area and the four vanished.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Order of the Phoenix Meeting Hall - Potter Manor**

They reappeared at the end of a ball room and James was glad he hadn't had to see the outside of the building. His instincts kicked in as he felt Chris stumble and he reached out and followed the man down to his knees. "Urgh!"

"Sorry." Charlie winced.

"What?" Chris looked up to James looking rather ill as he groaned out the question.

"It's not about passengers." James told him knowing what his boyfriend was thinking. "I'm good at Apparating."

Charlie glared at him lightly as James helped Chris to stand. "Excellent, we're all here. Let me officially introduce our Wicca Friends."

"Honey, are you ok?" Piper moved to James and Chris' side.

"I'm sure he's just unused to apparating." Dumbledore pointed out. "Side along apparition can be unnerving for first timers."

"Chris is well aware of side along apparition but I believe I am a little more subtle with my Apparating." James told him as he stood and casually surveyed the room. He made a note not to study any of the people too carefully but he couldn't help having to hide the shaking of his limbs as he moved forwards towards the end of the table where the first seats were taken by his new family. They all, without exception, watched him with concern though the younger ones were more confused than concerned.

He had to lean on the end of the table as one set of faces caught his eyes and he let himself glare at the range of red heads halfway down the table to his left. He felt a sneer go to his lips and heard the sharp indrawn breaths of Paige, Phoebe, Leo, Henry, Wyatt and even Joshua and Patience as they saw that look upon his face. They were so used to James when he was dealing with wounded children and had never seen such a look on his face.

"Who do you think you're glaring at?" Ronald Weasley almost rose out of his chair.

"Don't forget I've met Harry Potter since you tried to give him over to insanity." James snarled but centred his gaze on the few around the room that he wouldn't instantly try to maul. "Maybe we should get onto business? We wouldn't want any more insane criminals escaping would we?"

"James?" Paige asked quietly. James sighed and calmed himself and looked directly at Dumbledore.

"Our spy has managed to confirm what you have said. He didn't know the target but he had heard that the Demons were going to be enlisted to gain more allies to Voldemort's cause." Dumbledore told them. Evidently Piper and the others had already explained what had happened with Chris and James.

"And what did Snape think to do about it?" James asked. There was a rustle through the building and many tensed up as James named their spy so easily. "I had to rebuild Harry's mind, I saw most of his memories dealing with Snape."

"It makes no odds whether they know our secrets or not." Bill spoke up. "Snape wasn't exactly quiet about it when we visited San Francisco before."

"For a spy he isn't very subtle." Wyatt snorted quietly though everybody heard it.

"Don't be so arrogant, boy." Moody spoke up before Snape could draw his wand. James was secretly cursing the ex-Auror. Not only had he been one of the ones that had taken pleasure from locking him up but he'd also stopped James from getting an excuse to curse the bastard Potions Master.

"You're talking to the King of Magic there, Auror. Try not to insult him." James cut back into the conversation. "I'd hate to see you run through with a sword."

Wyatt grinned at him in glee and James felt a little better for mentally killing off some of these traitors. "People!" Piper snapped as she stood. "Is there nothing better we could do than exchange threats?"

"Quite right." Dumbledore took control as if he had never lost it. "We have just warned the Ministry but they believe that the Dementors are still more than capable of fighting off the Demons and according to your Vision they are still loyal to the Ministry."

"So they won't do anything?" Hermione asked seating herself between Piper and the rest of the order. Charlie stayed standing behind her seat as Chris eased himself up beside James and subtly took his hand in his own calming James more than anything else had.

"I'm afraid not." Dumbledore sighed before turning to Piper. "Is there anything you can do to prevent the Demons entering the Island?"

Piper turned to look at James who jerked his head away from the table before stepping away. Wyatt stood first and followed James and Chris about five metres away from the table. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, Henry and Coup followed. As soon as the nine of them had come to a halt James sketched a complex Rune and a silencing ward sprung up around them in the form of a blue tinted bubble not too different from Wyatt's personal shield.

"I know enough to cast a full scale ward over Azkaban to block transport like I did on the Manor." James paused unsure of himself.

"But…?" Wyatt asked looking worried as he glanced at his younger brother standing at James' side.

"I'd have to be on the Island and it would take me at least two days." James admitted.

"Well that's a no then." Chris stated. The others paused to consider it but all agreed with Chris. There was no way that James was setting foot back on that Island. Chris sighed in relief that he wasn't going to have to fight with his family over this. "Is there anything we can do. A spell to block magical transport?"

"There is one but to cast it over such an area would take all of us." Paige sighed. "We'd have to be able to see what we were casting it over."

"It's near enough to see from the coast." James told her. "But it won't be a pleasant thing to see."

"I can drop you off at Hogwarts before we go." Chris told him.

"No." James shook his head. "You need me to take you there and you need everyone we can on this one and Anna and Pennie aren't going. Neither are Matt and Jason for that matter."

"You just said we need everyone." Wyatt pointed out. "Surely we won't be there for more than a few minutes if that."

"No. Anna, Pennie, Matt and Jason are going back to Hogwarts even if I have to spell them asleep and magic them to their beds." James told him sternly.

Piper looked relieved that their youngest children weren't going on this task but looked uncertain at allowing her son's boyfriend to return there when just the mention of the place brought him to the edge of a mental breakdown. "Are you sure?" Piper asked.

James stared at her knowing she was asking about him and not the children. He nodded. "You can't defend from Dementors and not all of my powers are emotion based like yours."

"He's right." It seemed to pain Chris to say this. "I lost all of my powers when faced with that Dementor in the alley way."

Piper nodded at James and turned back to the table. James cancelled his Rune and the bubble vanished. "We have a spell that might block all magical transport onto the Island. James will show us where it is."

"You think you can cast such a spell?" Kingsley asked.

"We have before." Paige told them all. "Never on an entire Island but there is a first time for everything."

"Be careful. Dementors are not pleasant creatures to face even if you know how to fend them off." Dumbledore warned.

"I am well versed in fending off Dementors." James smirked as an idea came to him. "Both Piper and I have destroyed a Dementor. Utterly killed them."

"Impossible!" Snape snorted and there was a round of agreement from the other Wizards.

"Only to normal Wizardry like your own. Rune Magic and Wicca Magic are both effective." James sneered. "Now if you don't mind." He reached out to Chris who got the idea and as soon as he had hold of both James and Patience who was standing closest to them they orbed from the room back to Hogwarts.

The others all followed in one way or another out of Potter Manor and back to their common room in Hogwarts. James sagged down onto the sofa with a growl. "That was Ron Weasley, wasn't it?"

"Who are you talking about Chris?" Patience frowned as the others began to orb or glow into the room.

"The red head who told you off for glaring at them?" Chris ignored his sister for a moment.

James turned to her though. "He was my best friend at school and tried to arrest me two months ago in San Francisco." Longer if you counted Chris and James' stint in the past.

Patience snorted and turned to her Aunts and Mother as Piper explained what they were going to do. "Do we all have to go?"

"Everyone but those James said." Phoebe told her eldest daughter.

"Orb us all out of the wards and then I'll apparate myself, you follow. It isn't that far from here really." James told them before pushing himself to his feet and taking Chris' offered hand. Chris nodded but waited for everyone else to get ready before orbing away. A second later they reappeared as a group on the path out of Hogwarts and James drew himself up before letting go of Chris knowing that two bouts of Apparition would be more than he could handle even if hitching a ride with James was more pleasant than with other Wizards.

He apparated away with a small pop and reappeared instantly on the Northern most point of Northwest Scotland. He felt the cold slam into him in an instant and could only stare at the vortex of storm clouds that spiralled down above Azkaban Island like the gods reaching down from the heavens to smite the prisoners. Lightning flashed with a loud crack of thunder as red and white lights burst into being around him and twelve forms appeared between him and the edge of the cliff. They were all facing him.

"James?" Chris stopped in front of him but James barely glanced at him. "Love, please talk to me."

James gasped in a pained breath and pointed passed his boyfriend and out to sea. Everyone turned to look and instantly they too were hit by the depressive cold of the air. James walked through them all to stand near the edge. "Welcome to Azkaban." He told them quietly. Almost three miles out was the silhouette of the sharp edged Island and the looming fortress above it. Lightning crackled across the sky lighting the black rock for instances at a time.

As if in answer to their stares a low groan reached them even across the vast stretch of water. They all flinched at the sound of that low mournful cry. "What was that?" Phoebe gasped.

"Even the distance can't prevent the cries of the prisoners from reaching out." James told them.

"This is horrible." Wyatt gasped out. Chris stared at James in newfound love and a desperate need to protect him almost had him orbing James away. James glanced at him before a wave of cold swept up from the water and along with it the smell of death and despair. He gasped and clutched at his head even as Phoebe almost screamed.

"So much pain, suffering." Phoebe reached out and Joshua grabbed her.

James glanced at the children to see them all trembling but there was one missing. Felix was closer to the edge of the cliff and he took another step towards the edge. He wasn't looking at the Island like everyone else but was staring down at the water. "Felix!" James cried out. "Wyatt! Grab him!"

Wyatt barely needed the order and leapt forwards grabbing the suddenly struggling fifteen year old around the waist and throwing them both backwards. Felix lashed out but only sent them falling to the floor. Wyatt held him tightly to his chest and James collapsed down on the wet ground beside them and grabbed at Felix's head forcing his eyes to meet his own.

"Ignore it Felix!" James yelled. "Look at me, focus on me! Focus on Wyatt!"

Felix seemed to calm down but another groan reached them, this one a final one of despair, and his eyes glazed over and he tried to wriggle out of Wyatt's tight grip. James sketched a sleeping Rune and it burned red before leaping into Felix who went limp in an instant. "I'm so sorry, Felix. I forgot!"

"James!" Chris yelled in his ear as James laid his hand over Felix's own trapped by Wyatt.

"Let's get this over with and get back to the Castle!" James turned with a determined air. Phoebe knelt beside Wyatt and lifted Felix off of Wyatt with Joshua's help. James stood and joined the group. Phoebe handed Felix to Wyatt who hefted him up into his arms. The fifteen year old hugged Wyatt but was still asleep as Wyatt joined them. James focused all his Wiccan energy at the Island and couldn't be more glad when he felt the spell form successfully. "Get us back to the common room." For the first time ever James went to Wyatt instead of Chris to hitch a lift and Chris nodded at him to show he didn't mind. He needed to be with Felix.

The thirteen burst into orbs or glows and reappeared moments later in the common room in Hogwarts. The three husbands scrambled up from the sofa with the four young ones with them.

James dropped onto the sofa and motioned to Wyatt, who placed Felix next to James. "What happened to him?" Coup gasped as he sat on Felix's other side. James held Felix tightly feeling responsible for his mental health.

"I'm really sorry, I forgot about his ability to read desires." James pleaded with the man. Chris ducked down on James' left and grasped his hands.

"It's not your fault!" Chris told him sternly.

"James, can you wake him up?" Phoebe asked as she settled down in front of her fifteen year old son.

James nodded. "I think he shouldn't have a whole audience though. He won't be himself." James met Phoebe's eyes and knew she had an idea what he meant. "Take them all down to the Great Hall. They all need chocolate."

Piper nodded and ushered all of the children from the room. James watched them go. He knew that even though he had spared the Telepaths and Empaths from the Island he hadn't spared them from the emotions and thoughts of their own siblings and parents and even the four that had remained were pale and shaking even after only a few minutes. Phoebe, Coup, Wyatt and Chris were the only ones that remained and James sighed before looking at Phoebe.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about him being a reader of Desires." James sighed.

"Why did he go all violent on me?" Wyatt asked concerned over the reaction of his cousin.

"He wanted to die." James choked and tears escaped from his eyes. Chris, Wyatt and Coup blanched but Phoebe had obviously already realised this from his emotions. "Most of the prisoners in there give up trying to escape quickly and after that they just want to find a way to kill themselves."

"I've felt it before." Coup looked seriously upset. "Never enough to want to kill myself though."

"Have you ever faced a thousand people that all want to die more than anything else in the world and have that thought as the only one they can form anymore?" James asked. Coup looked pained and pulled his son up onto his lap. James sagged back onto the sofa and sketched his Rune into the air to counter the one that had put him in a sleep.

Almost instantly Felix bolted awake and cried out in despair. Phoebe flinched but Coup was already soothing his son with kind words. Telling him that it wasn't real and that those desires weren't his own. James struggled to his feet and Chris grabbed him around the waist.

"Thanks, James." Chris whispered.

"I…"

"James, don't." Wyatt half snapped. "Don't blame yourself. None of us thought about what would happen to him."

"You didn't already know it would. I made a mistake and now Felix will have to deal with it." James told him before turning to look at Phoebe. "I'm so sorry."

"I know you are, James. But we all make mistakes and we don't blame you for it." Phoebe told him. "Now, go get some rest. Chris, honey? Stay with James. His mind is completely torn apart."

James flinched but felt Chris hold him tighter. Wyatt stepped forwards and gave them both a loose hug. "Thanks for warning me, James." James looked up as the older man pulled back and nodded.

"Time to get some rest." Chris told him before pulling him up the stairs and onto their corridor.

James stopped them outside the bathroom as they passed the door. "Chris? Could we take a shower first? I feel cold."

Chris paused but nodded before tugging him into the bathroom.

**(Slash scene - NC-17)**

James broke away from Chris as soon as they entered the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Dead green eyes stared back at him and tear tracks ran down his cheeks. He'd bitten into his bottom lip at some point and blood sat on his bottom lip. He licked across the blood to clean it off and enjoyed the taste of something living against his tongue.

Chris stepped up behind him and knowing that James would be comforted more with contact to his skin, he'd already taken off his jumper and shirt. His bare arms came around his waist and pulled upwards under his own jumper and t-shirt to tighten around bare flesh. James smiled weakly at him and settled back with his head on Chris' shoulder. Chris lowered his head and kissed James' neck lovingly before pulled both his jumper and t-shirt over his head and dropping them to the floor.

James leaned back as he let Chris toy with the skin of his chest and stomach, soothing the tensed muscles with light touches. James sighed as Chris' hand lowered to his combats and he felt his flies being undone. He let Chris' hand slip into his trousers without comment but then moved his hips forwards slightly so he could fit his own hand between them. He fumbled for a moment to undo Chris' button but when he undid the zip his boyfriend tensed up. James knew why as his hand brushed over his loves half hard cock.

James was too tired, upset and depressed to feel aroused by much but he couldn't blame Chris for feeling differently and maybe this would help him get over it. James pushed his hand down under Chris' boxers and brushed his fingers down his cock before reaching under to cup his balls in his hand loosely. Giving his silent permission for Chris to feel like this. Chris sighed explosively in relief.

"James, we don't have to." Chris told him.

"I want to but I don't think I'm in the mood yet." James turned his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and kissed his neck. "Maybe later."

"You're still cold though. Let's get in the shower." Chris reached out with his right hand and with a deft flick of his wrist the shower knob turned onto a moderately warm setting and water began to flow filling the room with warm steam. James felt Chris' hand on the top of his jeans and paused his careful fondling of his boyfriend's balls to let him push them and his boxers down to the floor. He kicked them and his shoes away and gently tugged on the balls behind him as Chris ran his hands along James' thighs and back to his stomach avoiding his own cock, understanding that James would tell him if he wanted it.

James turned in Chris' arms, getting a groan from his boyfriend as he was forced to adjust his grip on his balls. Chris helped James to pushed down his jeans and Chris pulled away to slip off his shoes and step out of his trousers and boxers.

Chris looked down at James and held out his arms. James barely paused before moving forwards and hugging his naked boyfriend to him. He felt Chris' hardened cock against his stomach even though his own wasn't reacting all that much so he pulled them both back into the shower so he could give his boyfriend the release they both wanted. James wanted to feel like he was wanted, needed and loved while Chris wanted to know that James was clear in the fact that he was just that.

James pushed Chris against the wall and let him pull James flush against him. James moved to the left slightly so that Chris' cock wasn't trapped between them before he reached down and started fondling, pulling and teasing Chris' balls in his hand while he kissed at Chris' chest and throat. Hot water poured down over their heads and James quickly began to warm up again, the last of the Dementor's cold leeching out of his body and into the drain below them.

James moved his hand up Chris' shaft and ran a finger over the head of his cock before running his fingers around the ridge just like he knew Chris liked it. Chris bucked forwards but was trapped against the wall by James' body. Instead his cock jumped and James circled it completely with his fist. Chris' hands came up from his sides. His right just about managed to reach around to James' back while the other came forwards to squeeze his arse. James paused in his ministrations to look up and meet the eyes of his lover.

Chris sighed in pleasure and leaned down to kiss him. As soon as their lips met Chris ran his tongue across James' lips asking for permission which James granted with barely a thought. They kissed as James pushed his fisted hand down Chris' cock before setting up a steady rhythm as he worked his boyfriend towards climax. Chris groaned into James' mouth and began rocking his hips as much as he could manage. James didn't let up until Chris was grunting out even though neither broke their kiss but when he knew that Chris was nearing his end he let go of his cock and used his finger nails to run around the ridge of his cock. His cock leapt again and Chris snapped his head back as a groan ripped from his throat even as his cum sprayed up onto his stomach.

He sagged back against the wall and James shifted his position to completely cover his boyfriend to help him stay upright. Chris finally opened his eyes again and kissed James quickly. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." James smiled up at him. "I think it helped me as much as you."

He pressed his hips forwards and proved that the sight of Chris' orgasm still could turn him on since he was half hard and pressing against Chris' balls and softening cock. "You want me to?" Chris asked with a vague nod down between their bodies.

"Not yet." James smiled at him. "Maybe once we get back to bed."

**(End of NC-17 scene)**

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning**

James and Chris walked down the stairs into the common room and greeted those already there. Piper and Leo were making breakfast in the kitchen area while Paige was seated on the floor in the doorway out to the balcony with her two youngest children, Matt and Ashley, as well as Jason the last of the under fourteens of the extended family. They were playing a game of cards that seemed to frequently resort to laughing at each other.

Henry was sitting on the sofa with a stack of card encased reports on his lap and flicked through them with a frown on his face, obviously trying to refresh his mind on the cases he had ongoing before he returned to work that morning. Wyatt, Joshua and Luke were still upstairs either lounging in bed for as long as they could get away with it or getting ready for the day. Chances were the missing girls, Patience, Prue, Anna and Pennie were still upstairs in a similar situation.

James frowned as he moved to the counter. The only thing odd about the family was that Phoebe, Coup and Felix were missing. "Morning mom, dad." Chris rubbed at his face with his hands as he hoisted himself up onto the counter top. James leaned back between his legs and Chris joined his hands around James' shoulders in a loose embrace.

"Morning, Piper, Leo." James copied his boyfriend for the most part. "Where's Phoebe, Coup and Felix?"

Piper winced. "Coup had trouble getting Felix to go up to bed last night so the three of them were up rather late." He sighed. "I think Coup took them back to San Francisco early in the morning so that Felix could sleep in his own bed."

James sighed. "It's not your fault, James." Leo told him. James leaned his head back onto Chris' chest but leaned forwards again almost instantly.

"It was kinda my fault for forgetting it." James told them before cutting in before they could argue. "I won't rip into myself anymore about it if that's what's worrying you but I need to see that Felix is going to be alright before I can forgive myself. I need him to forgive me first."

"We understand." Piper nodded.

James turned to look at Chris briefly. "What time were you, Wyatt, Henry and Phoebe planning on going home?" He asked. Technically Coup would be returning to his work as well but since he could go from here just as easily as anywhere else that wasn't a major problem.

"We were planning on leaving at about two." Chris told him. "That'll get Uncle Henry, and Aunt Phoebe to work on time and give me and Wyatt time to get ourselves sorted out. I have classes tomorrow."

James nodded resolutely before moving to grab a mug of the hot chocolate that was sitting on the stove to keep warm. Chris was eyeing his parents when James turned back and James snorted. "I'll be over there playing cards so you can whisper and everything."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Psychologist!" He cursed though in an affectionate way. James slapped him lightly on the arm before darting out of the kitchen area to spare himself the retribution.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later that day**

James followed the group at a distance with Chris at his side. They held hands tightly as if afraid to let go and James half felt like he was walking down a long tunnel. He didn't pay attention to the trees on either side and barely saw the large group of Chris' family in front of them. They were on their way to Hogsmeade though four of the members of the group wouldn't come back to the Castle. They'd just eaten lunch and Dumbledore had brought up the fact that since the children would all be attending classes it would only be right if they fit in and therefore the group should go into Hogsmeade and purchase robes for school use, at the school's expense of course.

If it wasn't for the fact that he hated the old bastard he might have laughed at the children's' faces, especially Patience's and Joshua's who both eyed the Headmaster's robes with trepidation. McGonagall and a rather reluctant Flitwick had offered to act as guides and advisers on the shopping trip and were leading the group to the town.

James had to pause at the entrance of the town and Chris came to a halt without comment knowing that entering the town would probably cause James some pain. James watched as, lower down the street through town, Wyatt, Henry, Phoebe and Piper stopped while the others followed their guides. The four figures turned back to find out where they'd gone and Chris waved at them slowly.

"I'm ok." James told him before coming to a decision over something he had being toying with since that morning. "Can I come with you?" James asked.

A wide grin split Chris' face and he nodded enthusiastically, even if it was only for a few minutes it would be less like he was leaving James behind. Some proof for them both that they would still be within reach of each other. "Come on. Henry will be getting anxious."

"Do you think they'd let me apparate?" James asked. "It'll be quicker really."

Chris eyed him but grinned again. "You know I'd let you do anything if it made you happy."

"I know you would." James smirked at him and Chris went bright red as they came to a stop with the other before them. "Piper, I'm going back with Chris for a while. I'll be back for the feast tonight. Do you mind?"

"Not at all!" Piper glanced at Chris with a strange look but James passed it off as curiosity over his red face.

"James wants to apparate us." Chris told his brother. Henry and Phoebe looked intrigued but Wyatt frowned since he had felt it before. "If Matt can do it so can we." Chris pointed out and, so as not to be outdone by his ten year old cousin, Wyatt agreed. James lifted the hand that Chris held so it was in the middle of them all. Piper hugged her sons quickly and then told James that she'd see him later before backing away from the group. Phoebe, Wyatt and Henry all grabbed hold of James' hand or wrist and James apparated them away with a small pop.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**San Francisco - Chris' flat**

James breathed in deeply as he finally apparated into his boyfriend's flat. It was early in San Francisco and the sun reached through the open window. Chris was sitting on the counter top waiting for him since, after arriving at the Manor, James had taken Phoebe and Henry back to their respective homes before coming to find Chris. They'd agreed it was safer for James not to venture into his own place since both Sam and Jackie had keys and used it on the odd occasion and James didn't want to try to explain his sudden holiday from his work in Scotland even if he was due to return for a week in three weeks time to check up on all of his cases.

"You look worried." James pointed out.

Chris rolled his eyes but even that sarcastic movement didn't cover his nervousness well. The taller man hopped off of the counter and nervously grasped his hands in front of him.

"You're not going to ask me to stay are you because if you do I will and your sisters and cousins need protecting and I don't want to let them down." James was cut off from his rambling when Chris' hand covered his mouth. The nervousness vanished under a layer of amusement and he pulled his hand away.

"I wasn't going to ask you that though I admit the thought did cross my mind." Chris smiled and pushed James backwards. James thought about letting his Panther instincts stop him from falling but he trusted Chris and knew that there was an armchair behind him so let himself fall into it smoothly. Chris crouched in front of him and James leaned forwards.

"What's got you so wired?" James asked.

"I need to ask you something." Chris sighed. "You know I'm not as eloquent as you are around your kids so will you please just smooth over the edges in your head."

"No problem." James grinned though it was more to cover his confusion than anything else. His boyfriend's expression was completely serious, an expression that he'd only seen when he was confronted with a James that was terrified of something.

"I've been thinking about this ever since Halloween." Chris paused and James knew he meant the Halloween in the past where James' parents had died. "Every time I look at you I think about it and I know that's some kind of sign. I know you hate anything to do with destiny but I think this has more to do with my feelings for you, our feelings for each other, than anything else."

"Ok." James nodded to show he understood though that was only to do with the meaning of the words and not where this was going.

"I love you like I've never loved anyone else before and from what you've told me, you love me like you never thought you could anymore." Chris continued and James realised with a start that he had tears in his eyes. "My family loves you and trusts you. I love you and trust you implicitly and I want nothing more than to have you be a part of my family. To have you with me, side by side, for the rest of our lives. Can you do that? Can you love me for the rest of your life?"

"Chris, I could love you far beyond death." James told him as he wiped the tears from Chris' cheeks with his thumbs and moved his fingers to card through his boyfriend's hair as he leaned forward in the armchair. "You're right. Before I took that job with Paige I had only just accepted that I loved Sam and Jackie but it never occurred to me in my wildest wishes that I could love somebody in the way I love you and definitely not have that feeling returned. I thought that I'd never trust somebody enough to be like that again but I've never for an instant thought that you were capable of hurting me and that's what tells me that I really am in love with you and always will be."

Chris' eyes lit up and his hands vanished from where they had been placed on James' knees. James leaned back slightly to look his boyfriend over in time to see him pull out a small box. "I wanted to ask you if you could love me forever. I want us to be together forever and I want to know if you'd accept this from me. Will you, James Evans, be my partner for the rest of our lives? Will you trust me to love you unconditionally through everything that we'll face? Will you?" He seemed to lose pace here but that didn't matter to James who had never felt happier in his life as he flung himself forwards and overbalanced Chris. He hugged Chris to him as they hit the floor and Chris chuckled before forcing them both up to a seated position.

He pulled open the small box and looked up at James. "Of course I will, Chris, and as soon as I can talk to Hermione you'll have a Promise Ring to wear if you'll accept it." He kissed Chris soundly before pulling away as Chris slid the silver serpentine ring over James' left ring finger. The placement was symbolic that James was as good as promised to Chris, married as it were in their own minds and that of the family, for the rest of his life.

"Where did you get this ring?" James asked as he traced the snakes with his right fingers gently. It was solid silver and of such craftsmanship that it had to be very old and was probably expensive back then let alone now.

"It's been in dad's family for as long as they can remember. It's always been passed down through the eldest son but because of me being gay and unlikely to actually marry, Wyatt agreed that I should have it. It was that or a car." He laughed as he remembered what Wyatt had said the night he had met James. "I'm glad they did now."

"So am I." James smiled at him before realising something. "Is this what you were talking to your parents about at breakfast this morning?"

Chris nodded. "I mentioned it to them when we got back from the past and they said that we had their blessings but I wanted to tell them that I was going to do it."

James leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips. "Christopher Halliwell. I would gladly go back to Azkaban for you and while I hope it doesn't happen I hope it tells you just how much I love you."

Chris choked and fumbled to grab at James' hands. Those words really did tell him that he couldn't be more loved. James wouldn't say those words without thought or without meaning them.

"And I would gladly break you out of Azkaban a thousand times to prove that I love you." Chris told him before smiling widely. "Come on, I want to go see Wyatt before we go back. I want to tell him!"

James smiled at him fondly. Chris might act a bit jealous of his brother but in this he wanted his big brother's blessing. James let himself be orbed from the flat and across to Wyatt's flat only two blocks away but knew as they reappeared in the man's living room that he was covering his happy expression better than Chris was.

"Wyatt!" Chris sounded gleeful and James smiled fondly at him as he silently released his boyfriend's hand. "I asked him!"

"Asked him what?" Wyatt, who had been reading a book on the sofa, glanced up from his page and flashed them both a quick look. James easily saw the mirth there and winked at the older man.

"Wyatt! I asked him and he said yes!" Chris grabbed his brother by the upper arms rather unceremoniously and yanked him up.

"Well of course he did." Wyatt grinned at his brother with a fondness similar to James' own and James stayed out of it knowing it was something between brothers. "How could he not love you?"

"You mean you knew?" Chris gasped. "You've tormented me for the last two weeks about asking him and you knew he'd say yes?"

James stifled a small laugh with his hand. "You had to be sure you wanted it. You had to be able to take the risk of being rejected to be sure you wanted it."

"Hey, he's smarter than he looks." James commented. Chris turned to stare at him but Wyatt just laughed.

"Welcome to the family, James." Wyatt told him officially.

"No place I'd rather be." James told him plainly and caught his eyes showing that he was one hundred percent serious in his statement. Wyatt grinned and enveloped his brother in a tight hug. Chris sagged into his brother as the tension seemed to fall out of him and James found himself smiling even more.

Wyatt pulled away and offered his hand to James who took it without hesitation though he was rather shocked when Wyatt pulled him forwards and hugged him briefly. His mouth lingered near his ear as he spoke. "Look after him?"

"Always." James whispered back sealing a do-or-die promise with the older brother of the man he loved.

Wyatt nodded at him before looking at Chris. "You want to go out and celebrate?"

"Sure!" Chris nodded and turned to James. "James?"

"I should get back to Hogwarts. It's nearly dinner there and if I don't go soon, your family is going to be swamped with strange Wizarding children." James faked a shudder.

"Our family." Chris told him seriously but couldn't keep the grin from appearing. Wyatt openly grinned and James was glad that he was happy for James to join the family.

"You're our unofficial brother-in-law now." Wyatt stated. "As far as I'm concerned that's all we need."

"Thanks Wyatt." James smiled at him. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."

"After yesterday and seeing what you went through I can well imagine who much it means but I'm serious." Wyatt told him. "You're a Halliwell now as far as we're concerned and with that comes the good and the bad."

"I'll happily take all the bad to make Chris happy." James told him and by Wyatt's nod he knew he'd passed the test. Chris tugged him into a quick hug and a kiss, ignoring Wyatt's faked disgust, before letting him go. "I'll see you soon, I promise."

"I love you." Chris told him quietly and even though Wyatt could hear perfectly he pretended he hadn't.

"I love you too." James smiled before he vanished with an almost silent pop.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts**

James reappeared with a similar pop on the outside of the wards fully expecting Chris' family, _his_ family, to have returned to Hogwarts already. He looked in both directions before his form shimmered and he became Shadow. He purred at the sensation of being a predator once again before crouching low to the centre of the path to smell out his prey, or not prey as the case may be.

He caught the lingering smell of the older girls' perfumes first and then each of the distinct scents of the members of the extended family that Shadow knew down to scent and name. They'd passed by less than twenty minutes ago. James pawed at the ground before leaping into action. Panthers were some of the fastest predators on the planet and some of the most dangerous and Black Panthers were ideally suited for dying light or night time hunts because of their black coats but Shadow was still a Leopard as things went and that made him fast. What would have normally taken a human ten minutes to run took him only a minute and a half though he wasn't really counting.

He pawed open the front doors of the Castle and paused in the doorway as he sought out the family's scents again and determined that they had gone up to the common room, or Den, rather than into the Great Hall. James was off up the banister with instinctual ease and flew round the corridors with a confidence he hadn't felt in years. That all came to a half though as he slunk around the corner to the Den to see Snape striding his way towards him.

Snape paused as he saw the faint black edges of James' shape behind one of the sconces and his hand twitched towards his wand. James couldn't help it, he was in a good mood and this would just make it all the better. He growled, not a nice sound really. It meant only one thing. Run from me in the next two seconds or I'll clamp my teeth around your neck and squeeze.

Snape seemed to be for the latter since he didn't turn tail and flee so James crouched low to the ground and stepped out into the centre of the hallway with a low rumbling growl. He paused and his tail twitched low to the ground and he lifted a paw from the ground as if tempted to pounce. He pulled up his hackles and knew that a double row of glistening, sharp teeth were easily visible with long canines at the front.

Snape seemed to think better of trying to spell him so instead set off a loud bang from his wand and all but fled down the hallway away from Shadow. James shook his head at the sudden loud noise before trotting towards the statue with an easy gait just as a worried looking Coup moved it aside to find the source of the noise. James mewled at him in greeting and the man's frown turned into one of amusement and he slipped back inside.

James was instantly pounced on by Matt, Ashley and to his surprise a more cheerful Felix. James made a point of purring at the fifteen year old as he pushed his head into the boy's side.

"You're in a good mood." Patience's voice was clear from only a few metres on his right. James looked at her sour face before nudging at the three boys to back away. In a smooth motion James once again stood there with a wide grin on his face.

"Yup. Good mood." James paused as he took in all of their appearances. He couldn't even hope to cover up the look of malicious glee from spreading onto his face as he saw that all of the children were wearing black Wizarding robes and that they all looked rather out of character. "You all look ridiculous." He snorted.

"James." Piper whined from the kitchen. "Paige, Coup, Leo and I were hoping you'd be on our side with this one. You're supposed to tell them they look great."

"But they look ridiculous." James told her and heard Joshua snort in amusement. The nearly eighteen year old cowered under his mother's glare however. "I was glad to not have to wear those things again."

"Well the Headmaster thought that maybe we should wear them as well." Piper told him with a grin of victory on her face.

"I'm not wearing those again." James told her with a shake of the head as he backed away.

"We can't expect them to wear them if we don't." Leo pointed out demurely.

"Then maybe they shouldn't wear them." James shrugged with a little grin on his face that looked every bit cheerful though his mood had shifted as soon as the concept of him wearing those cursed robes again was brought up. He let his expression shift slightly into it's true pained one and Piper and Leo's eyes widened. "I won't wear those things again."

"Why?" Leo asked quietly as Piper said something rather loudly to distract them all from Leo and James' suddenly private conversation.

"Because they forced me into a set for my trial and it was the only clothes I had for eighteen months in Azkaban." James told him quietly before shuttering his eyes and shaking his head to clear it completely. He opened them again to see Leo nod at him before he turned to take in the argument between Piper, Coup and Patience. "It won't be so bad, Patience." James told her.

"That's ok for you to say, you don't have to wear them." Patience retorted.

"But I did have to wear them for five years when I came here." James told her. "You only really need to wear the whole thing today. Even the Wizards will only wear their outer robes to classes."

Piper and Paige looked rather relieved by this and they nodded at James. James flashed them a grin and his good mood was back as he realised they were his family now that he had taken the ring from Chris. "That's still bad enough." Joshua sighed and collapsed onto the sofa.

"Just be glad you're not being forced to wear what the Headmaster walks around in." James commented blandly and as a whole the room shuddered.

"Did everybody get back to San Francisco ok?" Coup asked.

"They weren't too sick if that's what you mean." James told him. "Phoebe and Henry should be at work now and I think Chris and Wyatt planned to go out drinking."

"Drinking!" Piper gasped. "It's only midday over there."

"They had a good reason, Piper." James told her and brushed his recently browned hair away from his ear. Leo caught the motion and his eyes widened before he smiled properly at James.

"I'd say that's a good enough reason to let this one go, honey." Leo told his wife with a grin.

"What!?" Piper rounded on them both. "How can you say that?"

"Chris said he'd already talked to you about it." James smirked at her and she frowned.

"He didn't talk about going out drinking as soon as he was out of my sight." Piper told him.

"But he did talk to you about this?" James held up his left hand with the silver ring clearly visible. Piper came up short with a startled expression before she lunged forwards. James only just managed to keep to his feet as she hugged him tightly. James sighed and for the first time he actually hugged her back. She seemed surprised but only hugged him tighter.

"Mom! Dad! What's he talking about?" Anna asked.

"We can't see!" Ashley pointed out.

"Shh!" Joshua told them both but as James pulled back the seventeen year old looked at him with an explain-or-suffer-my-wraith look. James grinned and showed him the ring. Joshua looked confused for a moment before he sucked in a breath and stood up. Before James realised what was happening he was getting another hug. "Congratulations." Joshua told him with a smile as he pulled away.

James was instantly hugged by Leo and then Paige. "Josh!" Matt asked as he tugged on his older brother's arm. "What's the ring for?"

"It means we've got a new cousin." Joshua told the little boy. "It means James and Chris are as good as married. He's family now."

"If you'll all have me." James said seriously.

Joshua looked around at the others. Some were still confused but it was really only the older ones that mattered with this. Even Patience nodded at Joshua and the boy turned back to James. "Without a doubt." He grinned. "Now, since we're all in a festive mood, do we really have to wear these?"

James laughed happily and hugged Matt when he clamped himself to his waist. "Thanks." He told Joshua who simply smiled at him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

They celebrated together in the common room until James ushered the children up to their rooms to change into their robes. He had changed earlier into the most rebellious clothing he had brought with him. Piper eyed his ripped jeans and loose hoody over a black t-shirt for a moment as she sat opposite him on the sofas joining Coup, Paige and Leo, the adults of the group. Instead of the expected suggestion to wear something neater like they were she grinned at him in understanding.

"Going for as many glares as possible then?" Piper asked.

"Makes it easier to glare at them I suppose." James pointed out.

"You could not glare at them in the first place." Leo suggested with a raised eyebrow.

James winced and Paige came to his rescue. "I don't think James should bottle up his emotions so much." She smiled at him gently. "It's not good for you."

James nodded and shrugged at Leo and Coup who seemed to understand. "How was Felix when you went into town?"

Coup deflated. "He was walking around like a zombie. He spent the night having nightmares so he's tired too. I hoped that a completely magical town would bring him out again but he ignored it all even with all the others running around staring at everything."

"He seemed to come out a bit just now." James pointed out. "He's close to Chris."

"We're all really happy about this, James." Piper told him. "We're happy for both of you."

"Thanks." James nodded before looking back at Coup to continue more important conversations.

"Could we wipe that memory from his mind?" Piper asked seeing the look.

"We'd have to wipe the last few days and you know they don't do it for just anything." Leo sighed.

"Wizards have a better way of doing it. They could remove the trip from Azkaban from his mind but I'm not sure I like that idea." James frowned.

"Why not?" Piper asked.

"Magic is a shortcut and there's no telling what it can do to the mind. For starters we don't know what mixing the magic would do and even with Wizards it is risky to remove memories so tied into emotions and in his case depression." James explained. "We'd be risking him getting depressed at a later time and recalling the event. Not something I even want to imagine."

"Well, what do we do then?" Coup asked as he leaned forwards. James looked at Paige but she deferred to him with a small gesture just like she did in consultations at work.

"In my professional opinion we need to stabilise his environment." James told them. "Luckily for us that means a world full of magic and strange situations. We keep an eye on him and we tell Joshua and Patience what to look out for so they can keep an eye on him when we can't."

"How about taking him home?" Coup asked. "Phoebe will be there to look out for him."

"Home would be good but I think he needs Jason, Patience and his cousins as much as possible." James told them. "I'm not as needed now that the wards are purified so I can keep an eye on him."

"You think he could have problems during the day?" Coup asked.

"Anything could remind him of it. Especially around here." James told them.

"What about professional help in the long term?" Piper asked.

"James is professional help." Paige pointed out.

"Maybe if the situation changes he might benefit from someone with more experience with helping children. My Professor at College perhaps." James paused. "But for the time being the best person to help is somebody that understands the desires he's feeling even if they shouldn't be there. I'm the only person here that knows how he feels."

James met their eyes weakly. "You don't mean what we're thinking do you?" Piper was the only one willing to ask.

"It's hard not to think about killing yourself in that place, Piper. It's just normally you can't do anything about it." James sighed. "I could have and probably would have if Gemma hadn't prompted me to escape."

"Oh, honey!" Piper moved to sit beside him and hugged him gently.

"It's ok Piper, I haven't thought about doing that again for a while." James told her.

"How long exactly?" Paige asked him.

James tensed and stood up from the sofa. "They'll be down soon and I'd rather not have them hear this conversation. I'm going to go for a run and scout out the students. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for dinner."

Piper went to open her mouth but Paige shot her a look before standing and following James out into the corridor. "James, I'm sorry I asked that. We're just all worried about you. None of us really want you to have to stay here and we feel guilty for needing your help and dragging you back here when it's clear you want a free life in San Francisco."

"Paige, it's hard to be back here. I hate it really and there is nothing I want more than to take you all home and go back to Chris, especially with this." James held up his hand to show the ring. "But I want to see Voldemort destroyed and part of me wants to wring the truth from him so that they all understand their betrayal. I want to see the pain in their eyes before I leave this place permanently."

"James." Paige started but paused before asking a question. "I'm serious about wanting to help you. I know you're one of those people that wouldn't want some official talking to them in an office and I know Chris is the best thing for you but I still want to help."

"Seven months." James told her after a moment. "If you count the two months in the past."

"Seven months?" Paige asked before her eyes widened. "What happened?"

"I got really scared at a night club with Sam and later that night I had such a bad nightmare that I couldn't stand the thought of it going on without end." James stopped walking suddenly. "Sam found me trying to cut my wrists. His face, it told me everything. I haven't even considered it since then."

Paige didn't speak knowing that it was unnecessary but she did pull him into a brief hug. James pulled away earlier than normal and a second later Shadow was in his place. Paige ruffled his fur and James growled playfully at her before sprinting off down the corridors towards the front entrance.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogsmeade Station**

"Well hello there." Hagrid's voice spoke up as James slunk out up the steps that led up to the stone platform. The half-giant was standing near the exit that would lead down to the water edge. "Dumbledore told me you were a Panther Animagus and what a beauty!"

James tilted his head before flashing his teeth. James pushed up with his forepaws and shimmered back into his own form. "Careful Mr. Hagrid, or Chris will get jealous."

"Just Hagrid please!" James' first friend said.

"Harry told me as such." James nodded sliding his old persona into the conversation. If anyone trusted in him it would be the half-giant.

"What else did he tell you?" Hagrid asked with a nervous glance.

"You don't believe I know him?" James asked but shrugged. "You were the first person to ever give him a birthday present. Well apart from his first birthday but he doesn't remember that of course. What happened to Hedwig after he was imprisoned?"

"I think she stays with Neville Longbottom." Hagrid said before looking at James carefully and nodding. James smiled.

"Why Longbottom?" James asked.

"She's a right smart bird she is." Hagrid grinned through his beard. "Won't go anywhere near that traitor Ron and doesn't want anything to do with the Order of the Phoenix. She only goes near those that believe in Harry's innocence."

"Will she go near you, Hagrid?" James asked with a steady look.

"Of course!" Hagrid looked wounded. "I rescued Harry when he was a babe and I found him on his eleventh birthday. I looked out for him all through Hogwarts! There is no chance that he did everything that people said he did. I'm not saying that those horrible people didn't deserve to be punished for what they put him through but Harry would never have wanted them dead and I don't believe it for a minute!"

"I'll make sure I tell him that." James told the man with a smile on his lips. He wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him who he was but he, more than anyone, knew how hard it was to keep things a secret once Hagrid knew. He had too much heart.

"He didn't think I believed he was guilty did he?" Hagrid looked desperate.

"No, Hagrid." James smiled again. "Harry never even considered that you would betray him."

"Do you think I could see him again?" Hagrid asked. James paused to look down the track where he could hear the sound of the train coming down the tracks. He waited until he could see the light of the headlamp come around the corner before he spoke up.

"I don't know, Hagrid. He doesn't want anything to do with this world. He's a different person now. He's happy where he is." James sighed. "One day I'm sure he'll come and visit but I promise you he hasn't forgotten you of all people."

Hagrid had tears in his eyes and he wiped at them. "Now, now! You've got me crying. How am I supposed to greet the first years like this?"

"It _is_ dark." James chuckled before nodding at the man and slipping into his Panther form. He sat at Hagrid's side and his tail swished back and forwards across the ground and was pleased when Hagrid petted his head with a heavy hand. He purred gently to show that it was alright.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James followed the students from the station up to the Castle though they went in the carriages and James followed as Shadow through the gathering darkness. He slunk into the Entrance Hall and slid up to McGonagall who looked at him with amusement in her eyes. "Anything to report, James?"

He shook his head slowly before following the woman out to the steps again. James turned to look at the side entrance that led down to the docks as twenty young children followed Hagrid from out into the grounds. James sat at her side as the children stopped opposite them and Hagrid slipped passed them into the Great Hall behind them. "Welcome to Hogwarts." James sat silently through McGonagall's welcoming speech unchanged in the ten years since he'd first come here.

After McGonagall went into the Great Hall James waited in front of the doors watching and assessing all of the first year students looking for any that could already be turning to the Dark Lord though it was unlikely apart from those that had grown up with Death Eaters for parents though that only made them prejudiced rather than evil.

The doors behind him opened again and McGonagall ushered them in. James led the way through the doors but ran through the room and around the Teacher's table which had been extended to include Leo, Piper, Paige and Coup as well as an empty seat for himself. The ten children sat at a small table on the left of the hall between the windows and the Hufflepuff table.

James rippled into his human form and a round of gasps rippled throughout the hall since all of the students had been staring at the Black Panther in silence. James gritted his teeth and almost glared at Dumbledore who chuckled in the silence. He took his seat between Leo and Paige. Coup sat on Paige's other side and Piper sat between her husband and across an empty chair from Dumbledore.

James sat in silence through the Sorting with his hands under the table to hide the fact they were shaking. There were so many familiar faces in the crowd from his own childhood. It had been five years since he'd left this place and only the seventh years were even remotely familiar.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore greeted as he stood up. "A few announcements before I allow you to eat to your heart's desires. This year, with the threat of the Demons at our doors, we have the pleasure of playing host to a family of Witches. Their magic is different to our own and suited to fighting the Demons and they have agreed to help defend the school and teach you to defend yourselves. Their children have joined us for the year and will be joining some of you for classes. I ask that you look after them and show them around."

He turned to look at them and introduced them in turn. The adults rose when their names were called but James remained seated to spite the old man and simply took a mouthful of drink from his cup before Dumbledore was forced to move along to Paige who smirked at James in amusement. With introductions done, the evening meal continued though James did note that they were missing two members of staff. James knew from McGonagall that Luna, the Divination teacher, would arrive in the morning but he didn't know who the Defence teacher would be. Probably someone from the Order.

Another thing that annoyed James was that Snape was still there. He hadn't said a word to any of James' new family since he had disappeared up to the Headmaster's office but he hadn't been thrown out either. James had told the Headmaster in no uncertain terms that he would destroy Snape if he did anything to the children of the family but Dumbledore had just assured him that he had spoken to the man. James had then proceeded to swear at the old bastard rather rudely before leaving. It was why he had had so much fun tormenting Snape as Shadow that afternoon.

Near to the end of the meal the doors opened and a blue robed Auror swept into the room with his hood up though James could pierce those shadows once the man had walked half way down between the tables. He tensed and hissed under his breath clenching his fists around his cutlery until he forced his hands open and dropped his cutlery onto his plate.

"Who is it, James?" Paige asked him in concern.

"Ron Weasley." James snarled feeling hatred flow through him. He felt a burning in his wrist and looked down to see his personal Rune glowing on his skin. His protective shield-attack Rune was reacting against his hatred just like it had against the Dementor that tried to capture him.

"Ah!" Dumbledore got to his feet. "It seems our new Defence against the Dark Arts Professor has arrived."

"I apologise for the delay but I had trouble getting the company to deploy." Ron bowed slightly. "They are setting up in the assigned rooms."

"Our Wizarding protection." Dumbledore turned to James and the others. "The Minister insisted and it can't do us any harm to have them here."

"I beg to differ. One incompetent man can easily bring down his allies no matter how strong they are." James retorted. "From everything I have heard, Ron Weasley is one of the most arrogant, and incompetent, Wizards of them all."

"James." Piper warned him. James snorted even as a round of snickers erupted from the Slytherin table as a Weasley was insulted.

"Mr. Evans." Dumbledore settled a stern glance at him but James just shunned him and turned to look at Ron appraisingly.

"You haven't changed at all from the images in Harry's mind." James pointed out. "Still relying on luck to cover your inadequacies."

"James, stop it or I'll call Gemma." Paige whispered in his ear. James turned to look at her but flashed her a grin to show he was only venting some of his anger at the man on the other side of the table.

"Prefects, please show the first years to your Common Rooms." Dumbledore stood and attracted everyone's attention. "I wish everybody a good night before classes begin tomorrow."

James snorted in amusement but stayed sitting until everybody had cleared out of the room. He stood and made his way over to the children. "Did you enjoy that?" Paige whispered in his ear. "Because you just made us another enemy."

"I did and it was worth it." James told her. "He's powerful but if he's anything like when he was a student he's unoriginal and wouldn't be able to defend against even the most basic of our magic."

"I hope you're right." Paige told him. James looked at her and winced. "I know, you're sorry."

James nodded before helping to usher the children back up to the Den. They all needed to get some sleep before the new day.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That night**

"_Get in there Potter and shut your mouth!"_

"_Damn you, it wasn't me! Use your brains you morons!"_ _Harry swore at the bastard Auror. The three guards that had hauled him down through Azkaban to his cell laughed at him as they tossed him through the door and he hit the far wall of his five by five cell. The Aurors laughed again before vanishing down the corridor. The light shut off and Harry was left in oppressive silence._

_That was when the moans started and then a loud shriek from the cell next to his own. Cold made him hug his arms around himself and he shivered in fright as a shadow flickered passed the light at the end of the hall before the light vanished. He was left in the dark._

"James!" James shot upright in his bed and compulsively shoved his sheets down to his waist as he wrestled with the lingering effects of his nightmare. He shook his head as he focused on the speaker of the voice that had saved him from his own memories.

"Josh?" James frowned at the boy who had stuck his head through the door. "What is it?"

"It's Felix." Joshua told him. Instantly James had his feet over the side of the bed as Joshua opened the door fully and stepped inside. James pulled a pair of jeans up his legs and buttoned them. "He got up to go to the bathroom almost ten minutes ago. When I realised how long he'd been gone I got up and went to find him. He's locked the bathroom door and won't answer me."

James was out of the door in a second. Matt was standing shaking in the cold air of the hallway. "Matt? What are you doing up?"

"I heard his thoughts." Matt shivered.

"Damn." James swore and crouched in front of Matt. "What are they about?"

"He's thinking bad thoughts." Matt said quietly. "He wants to hurt himself."

"Crap." James turned on the door to the bathroom and traced a Rune against the door. It flashed green before sinking into the wood. The door clicked as it unlocked itself. James turned to Joshua as he pushed open the door. "Go get Uncle Coup and then take Matt to your mom."

Joshua nodded and hefted a trembling Matt into his arms. James thought for a brief moment that it was a good thing that Jason was still asleep. Or he hoped he wasn't in the same situation as Matt. He'd have to check in on him. He slipped into the well lit bathroom and let his eyes adjust to the light. He left the door open as he spied Felix curled up against the wall of the shower cubical. He was wet and the shower was still running.

James crossed the room and turned off the cold water before sitting down on the wet tiled floor and pulling a sobbing Felix up against him letting his own warmth comfort him. Felix almost screamed in fright.

"Hey Felix. It's just James, you don't have to be scared of me." James knew what had happened even as the boy collapsed in on himself and curled into James' chest. He'd woken up after some sort of nightmare and the desire had returned to him. He'd come here and tried to wash them away, to try to shock himself out of those thoughts. Unfortunately it wasn't an easy thing to do on your own and he'd only made himself worse and probably gotten to the point where he was too scared of what others would say to come for help.

"I didn't mean it. I didn't want to!" Felix gasped.

"Hush now, Felix." James soothed hugging the sobbing boy tightly. "I know you didn't. Joshua came and got me when you didn't come back. You should have gone to him, or to me, or anyone else."

Felix just cried even more. James rested his chin on the boy's wet hair and waited. There was very little he could do right now except to offer the sense of protection just like Sam had done for him. In a way James was getting the therapy he needed after his own nightmare. He was reaffirming the fact that he wasm't being laughed at by Aurors as he was being thrown into Hell.

"How can you stand it?" Felix asked him. "You were in there for so long!"

"By remembering that I have a better life now. I have Chris and I have all of you to get me through it just like you have your brother, sister and cousins as well as parents, Aunts and Uncles." James told him. "And you have me, someone who understands what this is like. I can relate to it, Felix. I can help you if you come to me instead of hiding from everyone."

Felix sobbed into his chest and James leant his head against the wall and waited. Felix was holding him too tightly and was too desperately scared for James to stand up and take him back to bed so he'd have to wait for Coup. He didn't have to wait long either as after only a few minutes Coup walked carefully into the room. He was smart enough to know that his son was safe with James and that bursting into the room loudly wouldn't help. He paused at the side of the shower and looked down at James holding onto Felix as the boy cried.

"Felix, your dad's here now." James whispered after sharing a concerned look with Coup. Felix pulled his head away from James' chest and looked up at Coup who, to his credit, instantly crouched so he didn't look so large and intimidating though the movement could have just been to get closer to his son. Felix reached out and with an awkward movement James was able to hoist the fifteen year old into his father's arm. Felix wasn't small but in the current circumstances Coup bore it without comment and lifted Felix into a hug as he stood. James stood with them and drew a Rune in the air which dried both himself and Felix off.

"Come on, Felix." Coup muttered into his son's ear. "Let's get you back to bed and warm again."

"You can use my room if you want." James told him. It would be hours before Coup could get Felix asleep again and it would be better if he could get him back to bed without stairs in the way. "I won't be getting anymore sleep tonight after this and I want to check on Matt and Joshua and make sure that Jason didn't pick up anything as well."

"Thanks, James." Coup nodded as they stepped out into the hallway. James led them back to his room and lit half of the wall sconces lowly to give Felix some light.

"Just try and get him back to sleep and then put him back in his own room. I'll watch over him as Shadow until he wakes up. Don't worry if he misses breakfast and I'll watch him tomorrow."

Coup smiled gratefully at James before James slipped out of the room but left the door ajar. He saw Paige shutting the door to Matt and Jason's room and she turned to look at him with a sad expression. "What happened?" She asked as he met her there.

"I think he had a nightmare and didn't know what to do. He tried to wash the feeling and desires away with a cold shower but then collapsed into a ball on the floor. That's where I found him after Joshua came and got me." James sighed. "Matt heard his thoughts."

"Matt said he heard him shouting for help in his head too." Paige told him.

"That's a good start." James told her. She looked surprised at the idea but realised it really was good that he wanted help. "Did Jason hear it?"

"No, he's still asleep. I just sent Josh back to bed as well." Paige told him.

"Good, I need to go talk to him but then I'm going to go for a run as Shadow for an hour until Coup can get Felix back to sleep." James paused as a thought came to him. "Maybe you should go and check on Anna and Pennie in case they picked up anything."

Paige nodded before wishing him good night and disappearing down the hall. James turned back to Joshua, Luke and Felix's room and slipped through the door. There were three single beds in the room along the left wall. Joshua's was nearest the door while Felix's was against the far one under the window. Luke was sound asleep but Joshua was watching James as he looked around the room. James slipped over to him and crouched beside the bed.

"You did the right thing." James told him since Joshua looked rather upset.

"I should have followed him to the bathroom." Joshua protested.

"We can't follow him every moment. He'll just feel swamped." James told him. "He needs some time alone with his thoughts."

"But something bad could have happened." Joshua spoke quietly.

"Nothing bad can happen to him with all of us around." James told him. Joshua sighed but nodded. James reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "You're a good older cousin and brother to them all, Josh. They all look up to you, even I can see that."

"I have to protect them from Wyatt and Chris." Joshua smiled in amusement at the little joke.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." James told him with a smirk. "Coup will bring him back in here once he's asleep and I'll be in later to stay with him till tomorrow so expect me to be here when you wake up but don't wake him up. I'll bring him down later even if he sleeps till midday."

Josh nodded and James stood up. "It's probably best not to tell the others what's happened but make sure you talk to Felix tomorrow so he knows you're there for him."

"Are you sure?" Joshua asked.

"He needs people around him and he needs to know that you and Patience are going to be around for him to come to." James told him. "That's what it was tonight, he was too scared of being told off for bothering you. Be gentle with him but make sure he knows he's to come to you or Patience if he can't get to me, Coup, Piper or your mom. Ok?"

"Sure." Josh nodded. James smiled at him before backing out of the room. James shimmered into his Panther form and slipped out of the Den for a run through the halls half hoping for a run in with some of the Aurors or even a couple of students out of bed so he could scare them.

With an almost overwhelming sense of guilt for what he'd inadvertently done to Felix he slipped back up to Joshua, Luke and Felix's room and seeing that his own room was empty he went to change into fresh cloths before he turned back into Shadow and slunk into their room. All three boys were asleep and James lightly pounced up onto the end of Felix's bed and settled down to guard the boy.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	23. Wizards and Wicca

A New Life in San Francisco

Chapter 23; Wizards and Wicca

**Hogwarts – The Den**

James woke up at the first sound of movement in the boys' room. His Panther eyes cut through the dim light as soon as the alarm between Joshua and Luke's beds went off. It was a magical alarm of course and it managed a few rather blunt insults before Joshua managed to jab at it to shut it up. The seventeen year old pulled himself up to a seated position and looked around.

James didn't even lift his head but locked eyes with the young man as the episode of the previous night came back to him. His eyes flickered to Felix lying behind James' curled up body before he leaned forwards to stop Luke from making too much noise. The fifteen year old sat up with a questioningly look at Joshua who motioned to the Panther a few feet from them. James gently lifted his head and turned it to look at Felix who was obviously so tired he hadn't been woken.

Luke frowned but followed his older brother's example as they changed, gathered what they needed and then slipped from the room. James pulled himself up and without disturbing Felix he slipped onto the floor and then shimmered back into his human form. He sat in the large window sill to wait until Felix awoke on his own.

He didn't have to wait all that long though. The other boys had left at about eight and Felix woke up not long after nine. The first sign he was awake was a pained sort of shiver as his waking mind remembered what he'd done the night before. James let him sit up slowly and swing his feet off the bed before he made his presence known.

"How are you feeling this morning?" James asked making the poor fifteen year old jump around to look at him.

"James?" Felix narrowed his eyes in the gloom before realising he'd been asked a question. "I'm fine."

"Oh, I know what that means." James stood slowly and came to sit beside Felix.

"What are you doing here?" Felix asked looking at the empty beds his cousins used. "Where is everyone?"

"In classes I'd imagine." James shrugged. "And as for what I'm doing here, we didn't think it fair to leave you on your own."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything!" Felix went pale.

James smiled at him gently, this came easily to him. "Nobody really understands how you feel, Felix, but everybody knows that what happened last night wasn't your fault. The fact you wanted help proves that to us."

"But I didn't ask for help." Felix looked down at his lap.

"Maybe not verbally but Matt heard you anyway." James let that sink in and saw Felix flinch. "I don't think he cares that he heard those thoughts. He's only happy that he could help you in some way. And that's what you've got to realise, you have to talk to us about this."

"But nobody understands." Felix sighed. "It didn't affect them. They're stronger than me."

"Stronger than you?" James chuckled and the boy looked at him in confusion. "Your family is so full of magic and abilities it scares me sometimes. But I do concede the point that they don't understand how you feel. It would be hard to find a desire reader of your age that's been affected but I can tell you of two people that do understand it."

"My father?" Felix guessed and Harry nodded. "Who's the second? You?"

"Felix. I'll tell you again what I told you last night since you were rather cold when we were on the shower floor." James smiled at him gently. "You only felt the desire for suicide from another. I've felt the desire as one of my own."

Felix looked at him desperately. "Tell me what to do! I can't stand remembering that."

"I know but it teaches us something about what we love in the world. I could never dream of thinking something like that again because I have your Cousin in my life and I have all of your family to care about." James grinned at him. "It's a surprise really. Six months ago I thought the world would end before I loved again but that's all changed. You just have to remind yourself every time you feel like that, that you have family and people you love who love in return."

"I can do that." Felix nodded.

"And Felix?" James paused. "Next time take the door into my room and not the bathroom one. I'll always be happy to help."

Felix nodded and James stood up to leave the boy to change in peace. Felix stopped him before he could leave though. "James? How did you survive that place?"

"Part of me didn't, Felix." James told him with blunt honesty. "But the part of me that did is the part that found love and happiness with your family. We always lose something to places like Azkaban but it's us who decides what we lose."

"What part of you did you lose?" Felix asked with a frown.

"Hell if I know." James laughed. "If I ever work it out I'll let you know." James walked from the room to wait for the boy downstairs but he could only think of one thing. He knew what he'd lost for eternity. His sense of security and his belief that he could have the perfect happy ending. Felix didn't need that on his mind though.

James made them both a light breakfast while Felix took a shower and though James' sharp ears tracked every one of the boy's movements he knew that Felix would recover even if he spent some of his nights with nightmares. James thought back to his own nightmare of the night before. He'd more or less forgotten about it in all the commotion but he couldn't always ignore them. He'd look into a dark cupboard and shiver or he'd here Chris moan in his sleep and panic. That first night had been the worst night of his life. He'd felt scared, confused and alone. The confusion had faded within days and then his fear had ebbed away into a constant drone but he'd never gotten over the feeling of being alone.

But now he wasn't and that was what he had to remember. With so many members of Chris' family around he could never really be alone again. But that nagging feeling of never belonging was always there in the back of his mind like a net about to fall over his entire mind.

"What are you thinking about?" Felix's voice brought him out of his musings and he smiled at the boy gently.

"Just thinking." James told him before passing a plate of breakfast across to the fifteen year old. "I told your dad that I'd bring you to the others when you woke up but if you want the morning to yourself then I don't mind."

Felix ate his food in silence for a while and James settled down across the counter from him to eat and let him stew over the question. "If I said I wanted you to help me talk about this what would happen?" Felix asked eventually.

"You mean if I turned this into a counselling session?" Felix nodded and James put down his fork. "For starters I'd explain that counselling for something like this would probably take many sessions and not just the one. Then we'd get to know each other and get you comfortable talking to me about yourself."

"But I am." Felix demanded.

"Really?" James asked. "Or are you comfortable talking to Chris and I've just sort of blended in with him?"

Felix went slightly red at the accusation but sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"Don't worry, I'm not offended." James shrugged. "I can't begin to imagine what you all think about me."

"It's not about your past. It's not that, it's just that you're really powerful. Really powerful people just aren't as quiet as you are." Felix sighed. James smiled at him and shrugged. "Everyone wants to see if you can take Wyatt in a fight."

This time James really did laugh but he controlled himself after a moment. "I wasn't always like this, Felix. It happened because of Azkaban but it isn't all that bad. I'm happy with your family. That's why you don't have to worry about me."

"So we get to know each other?" Felix asked warily. "What then?"

"Then you tell me everything you want to." James told him. "It can be anything you worry about. Puberty, girls, grades, anything."

"I don't need to talk to you about puberty." Felix blushed. James smiled at him.

"That's because you have your older cousins. Some of the children I help don't have older siblings or parents to go to. I never did. Something like puberty or girls, or boys, can only work to complicate things so it's good to get through that first." James lectured. "You might not need to discuss it but I can promise you that talking to anyone about the girl you like is far easier than talking about strange desires creeping up on you in the night."

Felix winced violently but looked back at James with an understanding nod. "What then? We talk about what I heard and felt?"

"When you are comfortable with it we'll move onto that. Sometimes it's easier to talk about the symptoms first. In this case your nightmares." James told him. "Eventually though we want to end up talking about everything you heard. You have to truly understand what you felt before you can heal from it."

Felix stared down at his plate for a moment and shivered. "I can do all of that."

"Good because from now on I'm going to become your new friend. Forget that I'm with Chris, forget that I'm a family friend. You need to get to know me as your own friend which is a damn sight easier since I'm only six years older than you." James grinned at him. "And Felix? If you have another nightmare you need to come to one of us. I'm only across the hall or you have Joshua in your own room who won't complain."

"Joshua knows?" Felix went pale.

"Yes." James sighed. "You woke him up when you went to the bathroom and when you didn't come back he came to get me." James smiled at him sadly as Felix winced. "They love you too much to ridicule you for it, Felix."

Felix stared down at his plate again. "I know that."

"Good."

"Will you tell anyone what we talk about?" Felix looked back up suddenly.

"Not even from this conversation." James told him. "Anything you ever tell me stays between us and they'll have to accept that."

"Even mom and dad?" Felix asked.

"I don't think they'd try to get it out of me but they wouldn't succeed. Normally sessions last until you are comfortable dealing with it on your own. I'll be around long after that but when you are comfortable talking to your parents about it then I'll be happy." James assured him. "And Felix? No matter what you think after waking up after a nightmare, I'll never give up on you."

Felix looked up in surprise at the vehemence in James' voice. "Like they did to you?" Felix asked.

James paused but nodded all the same. "Did you want to spend the morning talking or go find the others?"

"Could we go outside and take a walk?" Felix asked shyly.

"Sure." James raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's busy in here. Lots of people wanting different things." Felix explained. "I can't block it all out like I normally do."

"Come on then." James stood and headed for the door with Felix at his side.

"James? Thanks for wanting to help me." Felix told him before they opened the door. James gave him a confused look. "I can feel it. You want to help me."

James pulled him into a one armed hug and was surprised when the fifteen year old boy turned into the hug just as he had clung to James on the shower floor the night before. James hugged him properly and didn't pull away until Felix did. If Felix needed physical reassurances to the desires he normally felt confident in feeling then James would let him have just that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Lunch**

James and Felix headed back to the Den for lunch and James started on a large meal knowing that they'd be interrupted by at least a few of the family. Most definitely Coup who'd come to see where his son was. He and Felix had spent the morning walking the entire edge of the Lake while they shared stories about Felix's childhood and James' school days. James also told Felix all about when he and Chris had gone back into the past. No mention of either of their pains came up and as soon as Felix realised this he relaxed and fell into the conversation with a liveliness he'd lacked since their visit to Azkaban.

James wasn't surprised when Coup, Piper, Paige and Leo came up with all of the children in tow. Piper headed straight for the kitchen but came up short as she saw the counter covered in enough food. "You've done it again, James." Piper sighed. "You do realise this is my only hobby?"

James smirked at her and picked up a carrot stick to chew on. Piper shook her head and ordered the children to tuck in as she moved to the cupboard to make a round of teas and coffees for the adults and older children who were allowed the caffeine. Felix ended up joining his siblings without a word from any of them about his absence that morning but Joshua and Patience flanked him on the sofa.

Coup leaned against the counter beside where James stood. "How was he this morning?"

"Repentant." James told him simply. "We went for a walk around the lake. He'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Coup asked. "What about that professor friend of yours?"

"I don't think he'll be necessary but I'll tell you if he is." James assured him before turning to look at him directly. "Coup, I know this will be difficult and I'm not sure if Paige has already mentioned this to you but I say it to all of the parents of the children. You need to act as you normally would. Don't bring up what happened unless he does first and don't push for information."

Coup gritted his teeth but nodded sharply. "Paige warned me to expect something like that from you and as much as I hate to concede I know I should."

"Felix is a good kid. He'll bounce back easily enough but he has to feel that he is healed before people start declaring him perfect again." James told him. "He'll come to you eventually, Coup. Just bare with it as long as you have to. Can you do that?"

"For my son I can wait an eternity." Coup assured him.

"I don't expect it to take that long." James laughed before picking up another carrot stick and munching on it.

"Aren't you going to eat more?" Coup asked. They all still treated him like one of the children at times.

"I ate some breakfast." James shrugged. "I can't eat all that much."

"You should try." Coup was starting to sound like Piper.

"Try or not I'll just be sick. My body can't handle what it could before Azkaban." James told him quietly so the children couldn't hear him. "I came out of there weighing not much more than five stone. Eating too much food is like a shock to my system."

"If you're sure." Coup eyed him warily.

James didn't answer but walked out to the balcony to stare out over the grounds. He could feel Coup's eyes on his back and he saw Felix's glance as he left him in the room on his own with his family but he wasn't all that fussed. He hated all these reminders of Azkaban, all the reminders of a life he'd sworn to never let affect him again. He'd thought himself cured of all that pain but it was affecting him far more than he'd expected.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Friday night**

The week passed in a refreshingly predictable way. James spent the mornings either following the children around the school as Shadow or patrolling the corridors as James Evans, the Rune Master. The children went to classes with the children their own age though Matt was bumped up to spend his time with Ashley and Jason and the third year students. Anna, as the only fourteen-year-old, was put with her fifteen-year-old cousins, Felix and the twins, Luke and Pennie. That just left Prue and Patience with the sixth years and Joshua with the seventh years though he spent a lot of time walking the corridors with James since as a part Whitelighter he could hear the calls of his family if they needed help.

The children only went to the morning classes like Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures since the other classes required wand work all the time and was useless to them. In the afternoons the Muggle Studies professor proved herself useless and was soon replaced by James, Gemma or one of the other adults to keep up with their school work. There were a few snide comments from Patience since it was quickly obvious that James wasn't as well versed in normal subjects as a Degree holder really should be.

Piper and Paige with the help of Leo and Coup held a class in the afternoon to teach the students more about Demons and Wicca magic though at James' advice they kept quite a few of their own abilities a secret. It wasn't common knowledge that half of the family were telepaths, empaths or desire readers and it was only the more flashy powers that were ever shown though only at great coaxing by the students who seemed both suspicious and delighted by any display of power.

James and Felix spent breakfast every morning chatting in the Den while the others went down for their meal and on the Thursday afternoon they went out for another walk though they kept to the simple matters once again though at James' prompting Felix told him everything he had felt about Chris being gay and having a boyfriend. It was good to start Felix off on something that would have forced him to stop and consider his own emotions. When Felix hadn't really had any deep dark loathing of gays James forced him to analyse what he had felt at the time.

Three times though James had been woken from his own repetitions of his stay in Azkaban when his door had opened and Felix had slipped into the room. The first time James had let the boy simply fall to sleep in the double bed but the other times he'd padded back into the shared room and slept at Felix's side as Shadow. He knew that one of the desires Felix was being forced to experience was the desperate need never to be left alone and it was through that that the boy did something utterly bewildering. He started searching out James whenever he realised that James was alone.

With his own nightmares not allowing him more than a few hours sleep James was starting to show signs of strain and nobody could miss it. Even Dumbledore had asked if James was having trouble to sleep. James had simply glared at him and ignored him even though Weasley, who had been there at the time, had ordered him to apologise for being so rude.

It wasn't just the nightmares though. Whenever James woke from one he couldn't stay in his room, he could hear moans and screams through the walls, he felt cold and scared. In the end he always made his way down to the Common Room in defeat and sat staring at the fire, something that obviously had no memory of Azkaban built into it.

Piper and Paige always tried to mother him about it and once they called Gemma to come and try to find a way for James to sleep and only James' threatening had kept Piper from calling Chris across the world. James told her that Chris was already worried enough about leaving him alone. The dreams wouldn't kill him so Chris didn't need to be dragged across the globe when he should be studying. James placated them by pointing out that in only two weeks he'd be back in San Francisco for the week to catch up on their work.

Friday night though changed that. James settled to sleep at about two in the morning feeling defeated knowing that he'd have another nightmare and no sooner had his eyes closed he saw something he'd only been forced to witness once before.

_A scream woke __Harry Potter from his daylight nightmare as he once again watched his Godfather fall beyond his reach. He leapt to his feet but like every other time he tried to save somebody he cared for he failed. His aunt could only scream as she writhed violently on the floor. The sound of her arm breaking under the strain of her attempts at escape was the only sound apart from that blood-curdling cry. His Uncle and Cousin were dead on the floor, their blood spreading out like a tide._

"_Let's see just how gullible your fans really are shall we, Potter?" Voldemort's voice hissed through the air and Harry met the blood red eyes with his own eyes and felt the dream around him fall away to be replaced by the inside of a large ball room. Cloaked figures spread out in front of him as he rose from his chair but then paused._

"_Harry Potter. What an unexpected pleasure." He hissed without any control. His followers below him muttered to each other and glanced around. "So long have you been beyond the range of my mind and now, after I finally give up, you come to me. How delightful."_

_James struggled and cried out, desperate to get out of Voldemort's mind but the harder he struggled the tighter Voldemort's mind enshrouded his own. "Not yet, Potter. I haven't even had any fun yet."_

"_Get out!" James spat, his words echoing through the room and making the Death Eaters even more curious. James managed to raise his arm and the wand held in it and aimed it at himself._

"_None of that, Potter." His hand fell back to his side while his other hand motioned to a group standing at the side of the room. A kneeling man was thrown out into the middle of the room._

"_No, don't." James couldn't stop himself from begging._

"_Oh yes, you don't beg for yourself anymore do you Potter. But you'll beg for somebody else." Voldemort hissed slowly pacing around the trembling Muggle and running his hand across the man's shoulder clearly disgusted at the poor man. He slowly stopped in front of him and turned to face the horrified Muggle. _"Crucio!"

_The spell lashed out as if James had cast it and the Muggle screamed as the magic twisted his body burning all of the nerve endings. The spell burned at James just as it burned at the Muggle. He tried to lash out but his magic was in his own body. James couldn't help the man. It was already too late. Muggle's couldn't stand the Cruciatus for more than about a minute. James struggled to close off his mind, to get back his own body._

_Power welled up from behind him as if someone or something was aiding him and Voldemort broke the spell with shock. "Hogwarts?" Voldemort hissed. "So the great Harry Potter has returned to Hogwarts?"_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Meanwhile**** – Hogwarts**

James thrashed around in his bed but unlike his other nightmares he wasn't able to unconsciously prevent his thoughts and emotions from escaping. His fear and pain rippled through the Den waking Anna and Pennie from their sleep. His raging thoughts, his pleas and desperation woke Matt, Jason, Felix and Coup as if a storm had broken over the Castle. With all of them awake it wasn't long before everybody was awake. Felix, Matt and Jason were in the corridor in seconds followed sleepily by Joshua and Luke.

Any questions about who the feelings and thoughts were coming from were answered when James' finally screamed as the pain of being connected to Voldemort finally got to his body. Joshua was through his door in an instant without bothering to knock and after seeing James writhing on the bed he sent the others running down to the common room for their parents. He ran fully into the room and shut the door to keep the moans and cries for help locked inside and barely noticed that Felix had followed him.

Joshua didn't know whether to try to wake James or not but in the end Felix's desperate pleas for him to do something made him move towards the bed and reach out a hand. His hand touched James' shoulder and his older cousin's boyfriend spun onto his back. His eyes stared unseeingly up to the ceiling even as they bled power but the worst sight was the blood that had flowed down the side of his face from his forehead though Joshua couldn't see where it started. He did the only thing he could think of and called Chris.

The door slammed open without preamble almost a minute later and Paige and Piper ran into the room and gasped out as they saw James writhing in the bed. "Chris!" Paige yelled without hesitation and without bothering to check whether anybody had already done it. "James needs you!"

"Mom! Do something." Joshua pleaded. Paige reached over to the side of the bed and saw the blood still flowing down James' head. She held her hand out in an attempt to heal it but magic sparked on James' body before throwing her backwards.

Paige looked worriedly at Piper who was wringing her hands as the two boys began to try to wake him up physically only to be ignored. "Piper, try to freeze him until Chris gets here."

Piper tried but the magic just bounced back at her throwing her into the wall. She groaned and stood up slowly. "Is this what his nightmares are always like?"

"No." Joshua shook his head. "I saw one when Felix…earlier in the week. He woke up when I opened the door."

"He told me he sees his memories in his nightmares." Felix told the two adults over James cries. Felix crawled up onto the side of the bed and kept trying to wake James up while Piper and Paige discussed what to do. Paige had just suggested calling the Wizards when orbs trailed into the room and a wide awake Chris appeared. He took one look at the bed and gasped in shock.

"What happened?" Chris asked his mother as he darted forwards and drew James up onto his lap, wrapping strong arms around James' trembling form.

"We don't know. He woke us all with his emotions and thoughts." Piper explained. "And we can't get him awake."

Chris' hand glowed gold for a second but James' skin sparked and singed Chris who quickly gave up on that approach. "He wants to escape." Felix gasped out. "He's trapped and wants to get out but he can't."

"Felix, sweetheart." Paige was at his side. "What do you mean?"

"I can feel his desire as if it was my own. The others will be able to feel him too. It's like being back at Azkaban again." Felix worried his lip but seemed determined to stay and deal with it.

They were prevented from comment when James suddenly stilled. His lips parted but he was still shivering. "No, don't!" He hissed. His body gave another violent jerk as if possessed and his eyes burned fiercely and with an inner coldness that shocked them all. "Beg…for somebody else." James words were quiet, barely above a whisper but his next one lashed out even though it was still quiet. _"Crucio!"_

Chris' arms flinched violently as if burned but it was clear that James hadn't actually cast the damned spell. James' scream made Felix and Joshua tumble away from the bed and James arched up into the air clearly under that very spell. "James! Please snap out of it." Chris begged refusing to let go of his boyfriend in case he hurt himself.

The room seemed to shudder and groan. The stones seemed to glow and for a moment they all thought it was James' magic but then the air grew thick and seemed to flow directly into James. James lips lifted into a sneer before he went limp against the bed. His breathing took a weak shudder and for a moment they thought he'd never take another breath before he dragged in a second one.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James felt the Hogwarts wards and could see the Runes bursting through his head as the school forcibly blocked off his mind. It wasn't permanent but with the work James had recently done to strengthen them the school had taken James pain to be an attack and had reacted as she had been designed to. James shuddered in a breath that he almost forgot to take and then groaned low in his throat. Piper and Paige were standing at the end of his bed looking at him with concerned expressions and Joshua and Felix were standing on his left.

He realised that arms were surrounding his bare chest and he glanced down and recognised Chris' hands. He shut his eyes in despair but the action only meant that he glimpsed the writhing figure of the Muggle being tortured into insanity simply because James had appeared in Voldemort's head. James forced himself onto his right side and without warning threw up onto the floor. Chris shifted on the bed and hugged him even as he rubbed the cold skin of James back.

"James? Are you going to be alright?" Piper asked him. James took a moment to answer but managed a weak and sore yes. "Come on boys. Give him some privacy. I'll bring you up a drink." She promised James before heading out of the room.

"Was that just a nightmare?" Chris asked. James didn't answer. "Please love. You're cold and trembling and we heard somebody cast the Cruciatus."

"It started off as a nightmare." James sighed. "When I was framed. But then I ended up in Voldemort's head."

"What happened?" Chris prompted.

"He sensed me and locked me in. He tortured a Muggle to get at me. I felt it." James shuddered.

"Why don't you try to send it to me?" Chris asked.

James shot up and rounded on Chris. They ended up sitting side by side. "I would never do something like that to you, Chris."

Chris sighed and nodded knowing he'd never get James to share this burden even if it was possible. "You look a right mess." Chris pointed out.

"Blood?" James winced. His hand automatically made it's way to touch his forehead and he winced. His scar had been hidden by the Halliwells' magic for so long he'd almost forgotten about it.

"The scar's still hidden but the blood isn't." Chris sighed. "Was that your link with Voldemort?"

James nodded regretfully. "Worse thing is that he recognised Hogwarts' wards coming to the rescue and now he knows that Harry Potter is back in Hogwarts."

"Well that answers the question about whether to mention this to the Wizards." Chris pointed out. "There isn't a chance in hell of us giving them even half a clue."

James cast a rune in the air and let it wash over him and the bed washing away the blood and sweat. He shivered again and snuggled into Chris' side for comfort. Chris slipped down in the bed and let James lift his shirt so he could place his head and hands on the warmth of his boyfriend's chest without hindrance. It was a small thing but a thing that would stop James from having a full out panic attack. "You haven't been sleeping have you?"

James paused before shaking his head. "I keep getting nightmares. I don't feel safe without you anymore."

"That's not a weakness." Chris told him before James could offer it.

"I'll manage." James assured him confidently.

"I don't want you to _manage_!" Chris told him sternly. "I don't want you to have to simply manage."

"I know, but we can't have everything." James sighed before pushing himself up and straddling Chris's lap even though Chris didn't move from lying down. "Can you stay for a while?"

"I'd just finished lessons for the day when Joshua and then mom called." Chris told him. "I can stay till Monday afternoon."

James sagged forwards and rested his forehead in the crook of Chris' neck. "I love you."

"I know, and I love you to." Chris rubbed his hands up and down James' shivering back. They lay like that for almost half and hour before Chris told James that he'd woken everybody and suggested they go down and see what was happening.

James changed into fresh clothes and followed Chris meekly down the stairs. He knew he'd as good as screamed the building down and he paused on the steps just out of view of the Common Room as he heard all of their voices muttering to each other. He was tempted to eavesdrop but didn't really want to know what they were saying. Chris tugged on his hand lightly and James followed him down the last steps and out into the early morning sunlight. It had to be only four in the morning.

James winced as they all stopped to look at him. Piper wordlessly handed him the drink she'd obviously decided not to bring up to him. James was glad, he hadn't wanted to be interrupted by anybody. He hated people seeing him when he was weak. "Um…" He started. "I'm sorry I woke you all up. I didn't mean to."

"That was one hell of a nightmare." Jason whistled low under his breath. James winced again and wondered vaguely what Matt and Jason, the two telepaths, had heard him yelling mentally. They both looked rather pale, as did Pennie and Anna, the empaths, and he already knew that Felix had been worried about him. Undoubtedly the others had heard his screaming under the Cruciatus.

"Not so much." James sighed. "Just some of my old baggage."

"Right, back to bed, all of you." Piper announced loudly. There was a muttered complaint but the children were slowly herded up the stares. James watched them go with a wounded expression. It didn't take a genius to see what the older girls thought about him. The boys had heard his cries and knew what pain he'd been in but Patience already didn't really like him that much and her expression of distaste at having the younger girls wake her up for nothing obviously hadn't pleased her.

"She'll understand one day, James." Paige assured her. "She's like her mother, strong headed and volatile."

"I hope not." James sighed and walked through them all to collapse on the chair. "I'm really sorry about that."

"What in the hell happened?" Coup asked. "We heard you screaming from down here. And I felt your desires. You'd have given your own arm not to witness what you just did."

"I'd give a lot more than that to get out of witnessing a mortal being driven to insanity by the Cruciatus." James told the man with a shudder.

"That's what you saw?" Piper stared at him.

James sagged back into the seat. "When I link with Voldemort through my scar I don't witness what he does as a spectator, I see it as if I am him. I feel the magic he uses and I feel what he feels. I've gotten better at blocking out the last part but I haven't gone through this since going to San Francisco."

"You told us you witnessed all the raids through Voldemort." Paige nodded remembering his words from so long in the past.

"I think it's harder to establish with distance. I witnessed him ordering Abaddon to attack you in the past but that was all I saw in three years or so." James sighed. "I wasn't prepared to fight it again. Another mistake."

"You're allowed to make little mistakes." Chris told him.

"Little mistakes?" James scoffed. "The first cost Felix his innocence and the second cost a mortal his peace. He would have been killed painlessly rather than tortured to insanity."

"James. Don't put yourself through that." Paige told him. "Felix is starting to see you as a friend rather than just Chris' partner and he obviously doesn't blame you."

"And the mortal?" James challenged.

"That was Voldemort." Chris told him sternly. "You can't blame yourself for what he does to people."

"It's easier to say than do." James retorted.

"But you know Chris is right." Paige snorted. James sighed but nodded.

"I don't think that well after being linked to Voldemort." James leaned sideways and lay his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "You lot should get back to sleep. We have to watch the duelling club tomorrow afternoon and if Weasley's running it I can assure you it will be interesting."

Piper and Paige shared a brief look before leading Leo and Coup back up the stairs to their rooms. Chris turned sideways in the chair and James leaned back into his chest taking up the offer for a pillow. James wouldn't sleep and both knew it but Chris was good at sleeping without letting James go. There conversation evidently wasn't over yet though.

"Why didn't you call and tell me you weren't sleeping?" Chris asked softly.

"What would have done?" James challenged.

"I would have come and made sure you had the security you needed." Chris told him instantly.

"Precisely, you would have given up your post-grad work and come over here." James sighed and hugged Chris to him. "I love you for it but you have to do something for yourself. You've spent the entire summer watching over my every move and then some because of the time travel. You need a break."

"I don't want a break if it means you're only getting two hours of sleep a night and having nightmares when you do." Chris told him.

"Even if you could come and not let your college work suffer I can handle that much sleep. I slept less in Azkaban." James pointed out.

"And look what that did to you." Chris retorted. "I want you to heal and if I agree with my parents, aunts and uncles on anything it's that every day you're here you regress a little bit more. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't Chris. I promise you." James told him instantly and reached up to kiss his Adam's Apple gently. "I need to be here to protect your family and if that means my healing has to be put on hold for a while then so be it. I'm no stranger to putting others first."

"And I love you for it but you have to be selfish once and a while." Chris told him partly repeating James' earlier words.

"I am being selfish. I'm keeping you all to myself." James grinned into Chris' chest. Feeling the need to touch his boyfriend James slipped his hands up Chris' t-shirt and started drawing small shapes onto his side. Chris shivered but smiled at the touch. "Get some sleep, Chris. You're already out of it and we've got a long day tomorrow."

"Wyatt will be here at about eight British time." Chris told him. "He was going to get an early night."

"Good." James sighed before simply staring at the fire as Chris slowly fell into a fitful few hours sleep. Even though James didn't sleep he didn't try to move away from Chris knowing that Chris needed the reassurance after witnessing what he had.

James was drawn out of his musings around three and a half hours later when Wyatt orbed directly between James and the fire. James met the man's eyes but didn't lift his head, he didn't want to wake up Chris so soon.

"What's Chris doing here already?" Wyatt asked softly. James winced. "Did you call him?"

"Actually your mother and Joshua did when they realised my nightmare was actually Voldemort torturing a mortal because I was in his mind." James told him. "Lots of blood and screaming on my part I believe."

Wyatt flinched at James' offhanded tone. "You make it sound like it didn't bother you."

"It did, more than I want to admit where Chris might hear me." James told him. "He's already had a go at me for not calling him because I haven't been able to sleep this week and I don't want him dropping out of college because I can't handle my emotions."

Wyatt raised an eyebrow at him. "Nobody would blame you, James."

"I would." James told him shortly. They were interrupted by the sounds of feet on the stairs and Piper and Leo appeared. Wyatt stood up to hug his parents quickly and James deftly slide his hand out from under Chris' shirt where he'd left it to remind him that Chris was there. Chris' parents didn't need to see that sort of thing even if it wasn't sexual in nature.

A loud clatter of footsteps announced the arrival of some of the boys and it actually turned out to be all five of them. Joshua tried to hush them as they reached the bottom of the stairs but it was a lost cause. Chris jerked awake and tried to sit up in surprise and James took his own weight again to let Chris look around blearily. "Mom! It's way too early for cousins." Chris whined.

"Very mature comment, lover-boy." Wyatt teased.

"Wyatt, he's only had three and a half hours sleep." James told the older man off.

"That just makes it even more hilarious." Wyatt laughed. Chris tried to get up to do something unpleasant to his older brother but James was faster. He shuttered his eyes and reached into his Wicca magic. He'd have to remember to use it more often, it still took him too long to access. He pictured Wyatt and his neat blond hair shifted before everybody's eyes gaining curls and turning a horrid neon yellow colour. James opened his eyes again and Wyatt frowned at the smirk that spread across James' face. Joshua snorted and that seemed to set off the other four children who burst into laughter at their cousin's expense.

"James, that wasn't very nice." Piper scolded him. James just smirked at her without apology. Wyatt's frown changed as he lifted his hands to his head and felt the curls.

"That was a bit mean." Chris pointed out. "Probably hurts less than what I was planning though."

James kissed Chris gently on the mouth before hoping off ignoring Wyatt's glare. His hands twitched but Piper spoke up before her eldest son could retaliate in some way. "Wyatt! I absolutely forbid you from using magic on you brother-in-law!"

James came up short in shock at the term he'd never thought would be used towards him and Wyatt grinned at him maliciously. He was plotting something undoubtedly.

"What's all this commotion about?" Paige asked as she entered the room and looked around. A laugh managed to escape her mouth as she saw Wyatt's hair but she obviously thought it wrong to laugh at her own nephew and she tried, rather pointlessly, to hide her amusement. That went out the window as the girls all came down and started making fun of Wyatt.

"What did he do to James?" Coup asked as he entered the last in the line of family.

"I can't really remember." Leo commented blandly. "I think he insulted Chris. Piper and I are understandably not taking sides."

"You banned me from retaliating!" Wyatt faked a betrayed look looking feeble and wounded.

"Actually I banned you from attacking James." Piper pointed out. "What you and your brother do to each other in these little games is entirely up to you."

"Don't even think about it, Wyatt." James warned and wriggled his fingers in warning of an attack at Chris.

"No fair." Wyatt pouted before his look turned victorious. "If I can't use magic then I'll use something else."

Before James could react Wyatt was attacking Chris who was still sitting on the couch. James retreated behind Piper and Leo as the two boys began wrestling on the floor in front of the sofa.

"Which one is the mature one?" James asked Piper loud enough for them all to hear. Except for the two wrestling that was. Chris was slowly losing to Wyatt's bulk but he was grinning anyway.

"You're the one that goaded them on, James." Paige spoke up with a small shake of the head.

"I know. It was fun." James grinned at the younger boys cheekily. He had done it on purpose and he even thought that most of Wyatt's mood was put on for James' sake. Everybody knew that James needed cheering up most of the day but it wasn't really that hard to do around this family.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That afternoon**

James leaned casually against the Professors table in the Great Hall with Chris on one side and a now blond haired Wyatt on the other. Down the centre ran a raise platform about five metres across and thirty metres long while two racks of benches ran up on either side for spectators. James had placed Rune wards on them that morning to protect the students from any stray spells.

Piper, Paige, Leo, Coup and even Phoebe stood nearby to watch the Duelling club and amongst the seats sat the children though they had fallen in with their own small groups of friends and were spread out. That didn't trouble James all that much since he'd had the chance to study all of the people that the family had befriended and none of them were that bad.

The students were talking excitedly between themselves while they waited for the Defence Against the Dart Arts teacher to arrive. He was late as usual. "Some things just don't change." James shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked him.

"He never could turn up on time to anything." James laughed. The doors opened and Weasley strode into the room followed by Minerva. James relaxed slightly knowing that Minerva had volunteered to assist in the teaching. Things were less likely to get out of hand this way.

"Good morning students!" Weasley announced as he flicked his wand and levitated himself smoothly onto the platform. James raised an eyebrow. He'd obviously learnt some fine control over his powers. An appreciative murmur went through the crowd at the display of power and James reminded himself that Weasley was powerful. He'd also gotten over his fear of crowds since he wasn't worried about talking to the entire student body. "Welcome to Duelling Class where I will be teaching you how to defend yourselves from any number of enemies be it Death Eaters or Demons."

"Firstly let me thank Professor McGonagall for assisting me in our demonstrations. I wouldn't want to use one of you as a test dummy." Weasley laughed and a smattering of chuckles spread through the crowd.

"Oh, really the wrong thing to say to Minerva." James shook his head. "She could take him apart in seconds I'd bet."

"She looks rather old." Wyatt commented.

"Wyatt! I raised you better than that!" Piper admonished.

"Well she does!" Wyatt complained.

"She's barely eighty, Wyatt." James told him. "The more powerful you are the longer you live. She's barely mid-life for her power level."

Wyatt whistled appreciatively. "How old is Dumbledore?"

"Not a clue." James shrugged. "Old enough to be an adult in the Victorian Era I'd guess."

"Pay attention you three." Paige admonished.

James laughed and turned back just as Weasley finished a long speech on safety measures. "Of course you'll have to duck if a spell comes flying at the benches but we can't have everything." Weasley joked and a few of the students looked nervous.

"Nonsense." Minerva spoke up clearly as she walked calmly up the steps on the other end of the platform. "Mr. Evans did a fine job on the wards. I can see them perfectly well, can't you, Professor Weasley?"

James burst out laughing and all the students looked at him in surprise. "Of course I can!" Weasley pulled himself up.

"Don't threat, _Professor_." James teased. "Not everybody is trained enough to see Rune based magic. Here let me help you all out."

James extended his hand and instantly streams of Runes flitted around the platform like a huge laser show. Each sequence span at a different speed. James released his hold and it vanished again. People with Minerva's obvious training could open their own magical sight and view it even if they couldn't manipulate the Runes like James could.

A few of the students clapped at James' show of power but Weasley drew their attention back. "I'd almost forgotten." He announced. "We are playing host to the Wicca Witches during these lessons so that they may learn something useful about our magic."

James grabbed onto Wyatt and Chris' arms to stop them arguing the term useful and Piper threw him a grateful look.

"First things first." Weasley announced and pulled his wand. "How about a demonstration of proper Wizarding Duel Formalities?"

He bowed at the waist to Minerva who bowed back slightly less extravagantly. "I wonder if this is going to be like my Duelling Classes in second year." James muttered more to himself even though Chris gave him a strange look.

Weasley started and sent a simply Disarming Curse at Minerva who, knowing exactly what spell he'd used, flicked her wand and spoke the counter charm clearly for everybody to hear. The red light cracked apart and dissipated. Weasley cast a weak Stunner and the blue light clanged off of a deftly cast Protego shield and ricocheted off to be absorbed my James shield which glowed gold where the spell hit it.

Minerva released her own shield and sent a spell at Weasley that James had never heard of before. Weasley obviously had since he cast a quick shield of his own that absorbed the spell. In that way the two cast spells at each other but they were following some sort of unspoken rule to keep it simple. One would cast a spell and the other would shield themselves. James had to hand it to Weasley, he was completely outmatched by the Professor who could clearly end the fight whenever she wanted but he knew a lot of new spells that James didn't.

Weasley raised his wand up and to the right to call of the fight and Minerva nodded and lowered her own wand. A round of applause greeted the two competitors and Chris and Wyatt both whistled appreciatively. "That was cool." Wyatt commented.

"That was nothing, Wyatt." James told him. "They were saying the spells aloud which is unnecessary. I could cast them without words by the end of fifth year and so could Weasley."

"Can you cast spells like that?" Chris asked.

"I could and I know most of what they just used but my spell repertoire is a bit more impressively offensive. I learnt specifically to fight Death Eaters." James told him. "Of course if I even touch a wand I'll have half of the British Auror division chasing me in seconds."

"Oh right. Not anytime soon then." Chris shook his head.

"What you saw there was a very polite and subdued Duel. That is what you will be learning to do in these classes. More aggressive Duels will come in time as your spell repertoire increases." Weasley announced. "Now, since the purpose of this class will be to teach you how to defend yourself from Demons I believe a demonstration is needed."

A nervous ripple spread through the crowd but Weasley just laughed. "Of course bringing a Demon into school is far too risky. But the closest we have to their type of magic is our Wicca friends. Perhaps one of them would like to volunteer for a polite little duel with me."

"It's up to you guys." James muttered. "I can only see Paige, Wyatt or Chris being able to take him on without seriously hurting him though unless you want to punch him Phoebe."

"I'll do it." Wyatt spoke up loudly and Weasley smirked victoriously.

"Wyatt, don't get cocky. Be careful." James told him.

"Can you take him on?" Chris asked as Wyatt made his way down to the platform. His cousins and sisters had started to chant his name which made James grin.

"With either of my Wizarding or Wicca magic." James nodded. "I think."

Chris chuckled and Wyatt jumped up onto the platform. Weasley bowed and Wyatt raised an eyebrow at him. Wyatt nodded after it was obvious he'd have to do something. Weasley's wand was pointed at him in a moment and James saw the shift in Wyatt's body weight. His family had been dodging Demon attacks their whole lives, they were no strangers to the concept of duck and cover.

Weasley's first spell had James standing fully on his own feet. It was a silent cast and it was illegal for all but the Aurors. It would have completely drained Wyatt of energy and sent him into a coma for the next few hours. Wyatt dodged and James snapped up his hands to reinforce the shield between them and the spell. It glowed as the spell tried to break it.

Wyatt threw out his hands and a wave of air flexed and battered into Weasley sending him stumbling backwards before he managed to cast a spell to stop the air from throwing him away. Wyatt snapped his hands back and let his molecular manipulation tug at the air sending Weasley stumbling back forwards. Weasley retaliated with a spoken stunner that Wyatt easily recognised. His blue force field sprung up and the spell was completely absorbed. The shield faded again as Wyatt's cousin's cheered.

Wyatt was forced to roll under the next two silent spells that burned at the air as they flew. James narrowed his eyes and jerked his head at Minerva who looked almost ready to jump in and stop the fight. Wyatt seeing that Weasley was serious about sending him to the hospital lashed out. The air seemed to flex and Weasley's movements slowed as Wyatt tried to freeze him. A slowly cast Protego seemed to help dull the time dilation and Weasley struck out with a banishing charm that smacked into Wyatt and sent him sprawling. Wyatt flinched his hands at the Protego Shield and it exploded into shards of magic.

Ropes sprung up from the platform at another wave of Weasley's wand and started to strangle Wyatt. "Enough!" James snapped and sent a quickly drawn Rune into Wyatt. The ropes burst into dust and Wyatt scrambled to his feet and James made his way down to the platform.

"It was only a demonstration, Mr. Evans." Weasley announced with a faked smile.

"A demonstration of what?" James challenged. Already it was well known that James held no love for the new Professor. "Your arrogance and lack of care?"

"That Wizarding Magic can easily counter Wicca magic with the right training." Weasley argued.

"Get him James!" James glanced over at Joshua who was standing amongst some of the seventh year Gryffindors.

"Perhaps you'd like to try?" Weasley smirked and held up his arms. "Would you all like to see that?"

"Do you even know what Rune Magic is capable of?" James asked.

"Perfectly." Weasley shrugged. "It's slow and cumbersome."

"Then perhaps I should prove your earlier point wrong." James asked and bowed mockingly. "Wicca Magic only on my part."

"Agreed." Weasley sneered.

"No restraints." James added and heard a ripple go through the crowd. He'd just allowed purposeful injury.

Weasley snorted and didn't even bother to bow before his wand flashed out and a beam of sickly red light flashed through the air. James stepped neatly to the side and concentrated on his own magic sending a weak ripple of air in every direction. It made Weasley stumble briefly but it was all the time James needed. His eyes flashed white and suddenly James was standing in a black space glowing with the white of everybody's lives. He easily found Weasley opposite him and before the man could regain his feet James had accessed his powers of Projection. The power that his new family were so proud about him having.

Flames erupted around him as he willed them into being and before Weasley could respond they lashed out along the platform. His shield protected him but he was unable to defend against the brunt of James magic as it lashed out and shattered the shield before throwing Weasley completely off of the Platform. James caught him in midair with a raised hand and slowly returned himself to reality. The Platform was smoking steadily and Weasley was hanging in midair ten feet above the far end of the Platform.

"Wizarding Magic." James snorted sarcastically. "Obviously completely unbeatable."

James dropped him without preamble and heard a very satisfying crack as his ex-best friend's ankle snapped. He glanced up as he heard a high pitched whistle and a round of cheers from his boyfriend's cousins and sister who were standing on their feet with big grins on their faces. James turned and strolled back along the platform even as his Panther hearing heard Weasley scramble to his feet.

Chris' face went pale suddenly and James sighed and sketched a quick Rune in front of him even as Weasley spat out a freezing spell which would have probably killed James if he wasn't so close to medical help. James let the Rune activate even as Felix screamed for him to move. The Rune spun around him to cover his back and easily absorbed Weasley's spell. James sketched another Rune with one hand as he turned and the air in front of him bent before exploding forwards straight at Weasley who was sent flying backwards straight through the defensive shield and into the doors which bent under the force of the impact.

"That was rather uncalled for." James snarled and turned again to walk up to Chris. Chris pulled him into his side seeing that James wasn't as stable as he made out to be. Being cursed in the back by the person in the world that had most let him down wasn't good for his sense of security.

"At least we know you can handle him." Wyatt commented from where he was standing nearby. He looked almost ready to blow Weasley up.

Paige stepped forwards since it seemed that Minerva thought it more important to care for Weasley than to speak to the students. "I think we've all learn something here today. No matter the difference in magic, it can all be used to harm another. It is best if our magic isn't turned on each other. We have Demons to worry about. A persons need to prove that their type of magic is superior rather pales in comparison." Paige told the students who went silent in their muttering to listen to her. "I think the class is over for the day. Have a good weekend and we'll see you all in classes on Monday."

"I'm going out with Chris for the weekend." James spoke up as the children began to stand to leave. "Is that ok?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Have a good time and try to get some sleep." Piper told him.

James didn't need to look at Chris to know he'd gone bright red. James grabbed his hand and a second later they burst into orbs and vanished through the high arched ceiling.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	24. An Unexpected Witness

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Oh what an evil, evil man I am. If you don't know what I'm talking about then read through this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, especially the last sections.

Chapter 24; An Unexpected Witness

**San Francisco – Sunday late evening**

James woke from their evening nap as the alarm on Chris' side of the bed went off. They had stayed at Chris' flat for the weekend in case Sam or Jackie went around there. They'd had a weekend to relax and get away from the terrors that plagued James' life in Hogwarts. Chris groaned when James didn't instantly shut off the alarm so James leant over his boyfriend's chest and turned it off favouring doing it manually than letting Chris blast it across the room like he had the morning before.

"You want me to take you?" Chris asked sleepily.

James leant up and kissed him gently on the lips as he played patterns on Chris' exposed chest. "Don't worry. I could do with going for a run."

"You sure?" Chris asked without opening his eyes.

"I'm sure." James whispered in his ear before shifting away from Chris and sliding out of bed. He went to the dresser and pulled out a change of clothes from the drawer Chris had given him and then turned back to see Chris leaning up on his elbows, watching him. "What?"

"Everything tells me I should make you stay." Chris told him without any sign of his previous sleepiness. That more than anything made James stay where he was and stay silent. "But if I ask you to stay you will and as much as I don't want you over there my family needs protection from the Wizards."

"My family too." James pointed out. "That's what makes it possible for me to cope over there."

"The problem is that my mom and Aunts won't just turn their backs on the Wizards if you come back here." Chris sighed. "And Weasley beat Wyatt too easily."

"If it came to a real fight Wyatt could beat him." James assured him. "Wyatt was holding back and your family aren't used to fighting only to capture. You're used to killing demons."

"You'll look after them?" Chris asked.

James crossed the room and leaned down to kiss Chris' forehead gently. "Of course I will. Just as they're looking after me."

"Thanks James." Chris smiled at him. James kissed him more soundly before pushing Chris back down onto the bed in a clear sign that Chris should go back to sleep before he turned and headed for a shower.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The Den**

James changed back into his human form to move the statue aside with the password before he walked into the living area. It was barely six in the morning there but remembering how much Piper enjoyed fussing over people at breakfast he didn't bother to make any food. He did pour himself a drink of orange juice though and then went to sit out on the balcony to wait for the others to wake up.

Normally it was either Coup or Piper that were up first and normally they were followed by the early risers amongst the children, normally Matt and Jason but when it was almost half six he heard a light set of steps coming down the boy's staircase and turned to lean against the balcony as Felix walked into the common room and looked around. He was fully dressed but looked rather strained. James walked to the door from the balcony and leaned against it as Felix went to the kitchen area and poured himself a glass of juice.

"You're up early, Felix." James spoke up making the fifteen year old jump rather dramatically.

"I couldn't sleep." Felix told him honestly.

"Did you have another nightmare?" James asked, feeling guilty for not being here for the boy. Felix nodded. "You know your dad doesn't mind you waking him up."

"I know but Josh woke me up from it and stayed with me but he fell asleep and I couldn't." Felix told him. "I got up because I wanted to come look at the sun."

Felix's last words were rather feeble but James smiled at him before slowly walking across the room. Felix took the offered hug and James sighed. "I know that desire. It's hard not to just stare at the sun for hours on end."

"I didn't feel..." Felix trailed off and glanced at the doors up to the bedrooms.

"Let's go talk outside." James offered and led the boy outside. James sat on the railing and swung one leg over the side so he was facing Felix as the slightly shorter boy sat facing the rising run. "What didn't you feel, Felix?"

"When I woke up..." Felix stalled again but James waited him out. "It's the first time I've woken up from a nightmare and didn't want to..." Felix grimaced and turned to looked at James squarely. "I didn't want to hurt myself."

"The desire to hurt yourself and the desire to kill yourself are completely different, Felix." James told him simply ignoring the wince he got. "People in Azkaban don't want to hurt themselves, they want the pain to stop. I've never wanted to hurt myself, Felix. Have you?"

Felix stared at James in horror but shook his head, his eyes wet. "I didn't want to hurt myself those other times. I wanted to stop it all. I wanted to kill myself when I woke up from my nightmares." He sobbed out.

"But you didn't think that this time?" James asked bringing Felix straight to the positive part of this conversation and away from the remembered past nightmares so Felix knew he didn't judge him for the past feelings.

Felix shook his head. "I wanted to escape."

"Good." James smiled at him proudly. "You've just entered a completely different stage of healing."

"I don't understand." Felix shook his head. He was still looking at James with tears in his eyes.

"Before, you wanted everything to end. You didn't want to be in this world of pain and horror. You wanted to know nothing and not have to face anything that could hurt you." James told him. "But now you are looking to fight those feelings. You want to escape the pain in a different way, you want to fight that pain rather than run from it. It's Fight or Flight at a whole different level."

"So I'm doing it right?" Felix asked.

"I couldn't be prouder of you Felix." James smiled at him and reached out to hold the back of Felix's neck. "Now we can move on to talking about what you sensed before."

"Why now?" Felix asked without moving away from James' hand.

"Because now you are at a stage where you can fight against those desires without losing yourself to them." James smiled. "We've still got some time so let's talk about this one."

"You mean wanting to come out here rather than stay in bed?" Felix frowned. "What's so special about that?"

"You need to think about it as if you are one of the prisoners." James pointed out. "Remember I told you that to face and forget the desires you would have to at least partly understand them."

"So if I'm a prisoner I want to escape?" Felix told him.

"It's a bit more than that." James prompted again and finally let his hand fall from Felix's neck. "What do you feel about the two places? In there and out here?"

"I felt enclosed in there." Felix frowned. "And cold."

James nodded. "And out here with the sun?"

"Warm." Felix told him instantly.

"This is why I took you outside for most of our talks." James told him honestly. "You remember Azkaban, it was cold and wet where none of the cells had any light. This balcony is completely the opposite. It's warm and open with the sun touching your skin."

"I get that." Felix nodded with a small smile.

"Okay, let's look at another one." James nodded. "How long did you stay with Josh even though you wanted to escape?"

"What?" Felix was surprised.

"Whenever you come to me or your dad at night you don't let go. Did you hold Josh after last night's nightmare?" James asked.

"I just don't want to be alone." Felix told him sadly.

"But how long did you hold Josh for after you realised you wanted to be out here?" James asked.

"I don't know." Felix told him. "Maybe an hour."

"Why?" James prompted.

"So I wasn't alone." Felix frowned.

"Just that?" James asked. "In that case why didn't you wake Josh up and ask him to come outside with you?"

"I don't know."

"I do." James told him.

"Why?" Felix pleaded.

"What would you have done if Josh said no?" James asked.

"I..." Felix looked close to tears again and James admired his strength in not actually crying though in this situation crying actually helped Felix to admit things easier. "I would have stayed."

"Yes." James nodded. "Because you would have felt weak for having to leave but you wanted to stay and hug him. Because you need the reassurance."

Felix nodded, glad to have the words out there to grasp. "So what do I do?"

"You get both." James told him. "You have to start putting yourself out there. Now as I see it Josh won't be up for another forty-five minutes so I have a task for you."

"What?" Felix frowned.

"You're going to go upstairs and wake Josh up and ask him for what you want." James told him. "More specifically you need to see that he won't even question why you want to wake him up this early and drag him out of bed."

"But he won't want to get up." Felix pleaded.

James just stared at him for a moment before he smiled sadly and gave the boy a push towards the common room. "Just go do it, Felix."

Felix turned pleading eyes on James before he fled back into the common room. James followed him quietly and went into the Kitchen while Felix went upstairs. He heard steps coming down the stairs from Piper, Leo, Paige and Coup's bedrooms and when Coup emerged he pulled him down behind the counter with him.

"James?" Coup asked. "What are you doing?"

"You'll see." James told him and waited. Coup shook his head but resigned himself to waiting. James heard dual footsteps from the boy's stairs and smiled at Coup as the two crossed the common room and out onto the balcony. James poked his head up over the counter and smiled at the sight of Josh leaning sleepily against the railing out on the balcony with messed up hair, half shut eyes and hastily thrown on clothing. Felix was sitting on the balcony with a leg over each side as he talked to Josh.

"Why is Josh out on the balcony with my son?" Coup asked him as he looked out with James.

"Because Felix is healing." James grinned at Coup and fully stood up. He sent a smile out the doors at Felix who saw him and his father and got a weak smile back. "Felix had another nightmare last night but his reaction was significantly different. Josh woke him up and stayed with him but Felix fought against the need to leave because he wanted to stay with Josh."

"Right." Coup raised his eyebrows at James in question.

"He came down here alone just after I got back from Chris' place and we talked it out. He sacrificed one way of helping himself because he didn't think Josh would go with him out into the open." James told him. "I told him to go back up and wake Josh but he didn't believe Josh would get up early just for him."

"Looks like you were right." Coup told him.

"With this family it wasn't really a gamble." James told him. "You'd jump off buildings for each other."

Coup laughed. "So what happens now?"

"Now we can start talking about what he felt and why he felt it." James told him. "He has to start accepting the logical desires and shoving away the illogical ones. Right now he's embracing two logical ones, the need for company and the need for open air and warmth. Two things that you don't have in Azkaban."

"And he'll eventually get over them?" Coup asked.

James paused but decided to be truthful to the man. "It would be nice to tell you he'll forget it all but those two desires are my two strongest when I wake up after a nightmare. They are simple but powerful."

"So it might be permanent?" Coup asked.

"At his age and with his history I doubt it." James told him confidently. "Especially at the rate he is progressing."

"But you think it is with you?" Coup asked shifting the topic completely onto James. "I can feel the odd desire from you. When you see the headmaster or Professor Weasley we expected anger and pain but all I get from you is the desire to be with Chris or any of us."

"Felix and I feel basically the same desires but with one major difference and it's that difference that utterly changes the way we can deal with those desires." James told him.

"You have a basis for the desires. They're real." Coup nodded.

"Precisely." James nodded. "Felix knows deep down that no matter how he feels his family will always be there for him. All he needs do is ask for a hug and one of his family will be there for him. I didn't grow up knowing that. Before I went to Azkaban I hadn't been comforted a day in my life."

"But Chris is here now." Coup told him.

"And it helps, it just takes time for me to realise that no matter what happens he'll be there for me." James told him before turning to avoid the rest of the subject. Coup sighed but gave in. Both knew that James was hiding doubts about almost everything.

The family all rose at different times and only two were late up. James woke up Luke who without Joshua and Felix in the room didn't have anybody to wake him up. They went down to breakfast together and split up as James, Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup went up to the head table and the ten children split up among the other tables sitting with friends. James realised with a frown that Patience was sitting with some of the Slytherin seventh years.

Breakfast was generally peaceful, Weasley had recovered from his injuries but sat in sullen anger on the other side of the table to James and his family and the Aurors sat at a side table casting suspicious glances at James for the way he'd hurt Weasley. They seemed to blame James rather than accepting that what he had done was within the rules, especially since Weasley had shot a spell at his back.

James was alerted that the Wards were scanning somebody at about the same time that Dumbledore straightened up and turned to Minerva who was sitting between him and Piper. "We have six guests arriving. The Wards have accepted them." He told her simply.

James nodded to Piper and Paige on his right and Leo and Coup on his left and put down his cutlery in preparation. If experience told him anything it was that people didn't just turn up to breakfast at Hogwarts without a reason. Two minutes later the six pushed through the doors, silencing the entire school population in a second, and started up towards the head table. James studied them as they came closer. Two were clearly Ministry Officials wearing what was really the Wizards version of a suit. The other four wore the blue robes of the Auror division. James tensed purely because the Aurors held their wands in their hands.

Dumbledore stood to greet them as did Weasley and the other four Aurors that were set to guard Hogwarts. James hands disappeared under the table to hide the shaking that inevitably coincided with being faced by nine Aurors and the Ministry of magic. Paige shocked him when her left hand grabbed onto James' shaking right hand and she squeezed it tightly to try to reassure him. James couldn't look at her, he was too worried about missing the instants warning he'd have if they tried to attack him.

"Professor Dumbledore." One of the Ministry lackeys greeted without warmth. "We seem to have a matter to deal with."

"And what matter would that be?" Dumbledore asked.

"The whereabouts of the escaped convict, Harry James Potter." The man told Dumbledore with a sneer on his face. James froze up and barely noticed when Leo on his left put his hand on James' other hand, nor did he notice that the entirety of Chris' cousins and sisters were looking directly at him as the blood drained from his face.

"It was made clear to you, Professor Dumbledore, that should Harry Potter turn up at Hogwarts the Aurors were to be called without delay." The other Ministry Wizard told the aged Professor with a calm expression on his face.

"A condition I was more than happy to make, Rufus." Dumbledore made a placating gesture. "Should Harry Potter show up here we would contain him and place him back into your possession."

"Our sources tell us that he is here." The first man told them and paused for the shocked gasp from the teachers and the panicked outcry of the student population. "Hand him over and we can have done with all of this."

"I have no idea what you mean." Dumbledore told the man. "We all believe in Mr. Potter's guilt. Should he turn up here we would be more than happy to place him in your custody."

"We have detected his magical signature within Hogwarts." The second man, Rufus, informed Dumbledore. "If you are not aware of his presence then we must only assume that he managed to circumvent the Wards somehow."

"He wouldn't need to circumvent the Wards." Minerva spoke up calmly. "The Wards loved Harry from the moment he stepped into the castle."

"Since Sirius Black's escape all Azkaban inmates are tagged to prevent them from passing through the Hogwarts Wards." Rufus told her coldly.

"The Wards are sentient." James spoke up, proud that his voice was clear. He had to speak up and face his fears at some point and this conversation was irritating him enough to want to speak though his hands still shook under the table. "If Hogwarts doesn't see Harry as a threat then she'd let him in."

"Yet, as the Headmaster, she would inform me." Dumbledore interrupted.

"If you say so." James sneered at him and felt Paige tighten her grip on his hand.

"You have a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter." Rufus spoke up and narrowed his eyes at him.

"We share Great Grandparents." James told him. The best way to avoid speculation was to admit a relationship with Harry in the first place. "Tell me, how did you say you knew he was here?"

"We detected his magical signature." Rufus told him.

James stood in one fluid motion. "That's impossible."

"What?" Rufus frowned.

"That is impossible." James growled.

"James, please explain." Dumbledore requested sternly.

"Harry is hidden from all scans by complex magic, including my own spells. None of your spells could possibly have detected him." James sneered.

"You admit to aiding a convicted murderer?" The first Ministry lackey smirked at him.

"And you can't do fuck all about it." James snapped. "Harry isn't convicted anywhere but in Britain and you have no right to hold me."

"I think we can make an exception." The man sneered.

"What I'd rather know is who told you he was here because I know of only one way that anybody could learn where Harry Potter was." James told him and turned to Dumbledore with cold eyes. "Harry is hidden to all spells, even my own. The only link that can't be interrupted is his curse scar that links him to Voldemort. Only Voldemort could have told him where Harry was."

Both men went white as a sheet at that accusation. "Don't you dare accuse Ministry Officials of being in league with You-know-who!" Weasley spat at James.

"Logically it is the only explanation." James sneered at Weasley even though he knew that hundreds of people were looking at him.

"You know where he is!" Weasley almost screamed at him and brought up his wand to aim at James. "If you don't tell us we'll just have to place you under arrest and get it from you with Veritaserum."

"We have had this conversation before, Headmaster Dumbledore." Piper spoke up without standing. "If you abuse us in any way our agreement is over."

"If you protect him we'll just arrest you all as well." Weasley sneered. The conversation had gotten well out of hand. "One of you must know where he is!"

"Weasley is correct." Rufus nodded slowly. "If Harry Potter is in Hogwarts without the Headmaster's knowledge then one of the Wicca Witches must have helped him enter."

"We've been through this already." James shook his head. "Hogwarts wouldn't stop Harry Potter from entering. If your source, or should I say Voldemort, believes him to be here then he has gotten in without triggering the Wards."

"Our source is not You-Know-Who!" Rufus snapped.

"Enough!" Dumbledore snapped. "Measures will be taken to ensure Mr. Potter is not within the grounds and we will of course close up the castle in case he tries to enter again but I will tell you know that I have had not one bit of evidence that says he is here."

"So now you need evidence?" James hissed quiet enough that only Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup heard him. James sagged back into his seat as his muscles began trembling. He really needed to get out of here.

"You'd better do just that, Dumbledore. We all know the boy was your favourite." The first man sneered. "If you're harbouring him you'll go with him to Azkaban."

"I'm not in the habit of harbouring murderers." Dumbledore told him. "Now if you'd kindly leave."

Rufus nodded abruptly and turned away from the table. The other official did the same. "What about them?" Weasley snapped waving at James.

"They are foreign allies." Minerva told Weasley sharply. "Arresting them or administering Veritaserum is illegal."

"But they know where Potter is!" Weasley shouted.

James couldn't find the energy to sneer at him as Weasley rushed out of the room after the Ministry Officials, obviously in an attempt to convince them to arrest James for questioning. "I think we'd better call an Order meeting, Minerva." Dumbledore sighed as the room began to fill with noise again. "I think you might be right in that the Wards would not alert me to Mr. Potter's arrival. We must come up with another way to keep him out of the castle."

"Aren't you worried about where they got that information from?" Minerva asked. "If James is right...?"

"We know there are spies in the Ministry, any one of them could have placed a false signature and led them to that conclusion." Dumbledore shook his head. "Even so, he must be using powerful magic if he is within the wards without us knowing. That would have set off their spells."

James shuttered his eyes and stood in a rather haphazard way, finally admitting defeat over his nerves. He quickly walked from the room and out onto the lawn, turned a couple of corners to get out of sight before he threw up what little breakfast he'd managed. He felt a hand on his back and turned his head to see Leo watching him carefully. "Sorry." James grimaced.

"Nothing to apologise for, James." Leo sighed and wrapped an arm around him. James turned into his first hug with Chris' father and let the larger man hold him up as he began shaking. He felt a smaller hand touch his arm before the world burst into glittering orbs.

Leo held him steady as Paige orbed them up into the Den before letting him pull away to sit on the sofa by the fire. He pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them tightly as he tried to keep his shaking under control. He simply stared at the fire place as Paige made him a hot drink which she put on the coffee table when he refused to drink it. Leo sat beside him but didn't offer any comments.

It was about five minutes before Piper and Coup arrived in the room along with Joshua and Felix. The younger boy bounced onto the chair beside James and forced his way into a hug. James returned the side on hug gently realising that Felix understood how he felt.

"Felix made us bring him up. The others have gone to classes." Coup told them. "Josh offered to stay with him since we all have a class this morning."

James barely glanced at him but did look at Piper when she spoke. "The Headmaster wants us to go to an Order meeting tonight."

"I'd rather not go if that's okay with you." James muttered.

"I didn't think you would want to." Piper assured him.

"Won't that look suspicious?" Leo asked.

"I told the Headmaster that after Weasley's threats this morning we wouldn't all leave the children in the castle without one of us to protect them." Piper told them all.

"We've got bigger problems than them finding me." James looked around with a pale face at Paige, Leo and Piper on his left. "Voldemort wanted the Ministry to come looking for me and blow up a big enough fuss that they'd find me. That didn't work but he knows I'm here from that vision which means it won't be long before he tries something else to draw me out."

"How do you know that?" Piper asked.

"Because he'd rather I was being tortured in Azkaban then free." James told her.

"We won't let that happen." Felix told him sternly. James smiled at him and leant back in the chair, finally letting his feet fall to the ground. He put an arm around Felix's shoulders in clear gratitude.

"We should let Chris know what happened." Joshua pointed out.

"We don't have to." James told him.

"He made me promise to report to him." Joshua went slightly red. "Actually he made Luke, Felix, Matt and Jason promise to report to him."

"He deserves to know what's happening, James." Leo told him. James sighed but nodded.

"If I see Weasley today I might do something regrettable so I plan on staying up here for the day." James told them all.

"We'll stay." Joshua nodded and motioned to Felix.

"Okay." Paige nodded. "We'll see you at lunch."

James watched them all walk out before he caught the box of cards that Josh threw at him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**That evening**

James had waited up for the returning adults who had left the school right after classes for the Order meeting, leaving James alone to look after the children. Patience, the oldest girl, hadn't shown up in the Den until almost curfew and if James hadn't checked with the wards to find out she was in the Slytherin common room he would have gotten worried and gone looking for her. Josh had ripped into her about worrying James but James had simply got a sneer from the girl before she disappeared up the stairs.

James had stopped Josh from yelling up after her and sent the younger kids up to bed. He'd spent an hour talking to Josh and the seventeen year old went to bed just after eleven. It was nearly one before Piper, Paige, Leo and Coup returned along with Phoebe who Paige had brought over for the meeting.

"That was a total waste of time." Paige announced as she sat down opposite James.

"What did they talk about?" James asked.

"They went over how Voldemort could have gotten information about Harry Potter being here." Piper started as she went to make hot drinks in the kitchen.

"That Snape guy said that Voldemort was completely convinced that he was within Hogwarts." Leo added as he sat beside Paige. James moved over slightly so that Phoebe and Coup could sit together and that left a seat for Piper when she brought over the drinks. "Snape told them that he heard some of the other Death Eaters talking about Voldemort talking to him while he tortured an old man."

James shuddered and jumped when Phoebe took his hand. James squeezed it weakly before letting go and turning back to the others for the rest of the explanation. "Dumbledore was quite adamant that the Wards hadn't triggered to prevent anyone entrance to the school." Piper said as she placed a hot drink in front of them all before sitting next to Paige. "He was rather worried about that. He believes that Voldemort is correct about Harry Potter being here and he seemed rather worried that he could enter without the Wards trying to stop him."

"There was a rather large argument between Paige and Weasley over the reason behind that." Phoebe frowned. "Weasley thinks you're using Dark Magic to get in without the Wards knowing."

James smiled at her. So far they'd all avoided relating him to all of this, Phoebe had been the first to slip up. "I wouldn't bother arguing my innocence anymore." James sighed. "Neither side has proof of guilt or innocence. It'll take Voldemort admitting it before they believe us. I don't honestly care anymore."

"But it would be nice." Paige sighed. "They want us to come up with a spell to keep him out. We said we wouldn't. We spent an hour arguing over just that!"

"Sounds like Wizards." James shrugged.

"Something has me worried though." Coup spoke up for the first time. "They all seem so certain about your guilt. And Weasley keeps saying they have proof."

"So?" Paige asked.

"All I sensed from Dumbledore was regret, lots of it." Phoebe spoke up from James' side.

"That's exactly it." Coup nodded. "All I got was a desire to change the past. I'm quite used to that one but he's really stuck on it."

"What are you saying?" James asked. "That you think they're justified?"

Coup jumped and looked at James in shock. It was the first time they'd heard James' angered voice directed at them. "We don't think for an instant that you did what they said." Coup defended. "Even if we didn't trust you we have enough powers to determine that."

James levelled him a stare at had him gulping. "All we're saying, James." Phoebe interrupted. "Is that obviously they believe themselves to be right."

"That's what's worrying me." Coup assured James carefully.

"They still should have trusted me." James stood up. "They knew me for years and I saved them a few times and they didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt. You guys have only known me since the beginning of the summer and you trust me to be a part of your family."

"Well it'll take witnessing it ourselves before we listen to them." Piper told him. James smiled at her before stepping around the chair and facing Phoebe again.

"Patience didn't come up here until curfew. She was down in the Slytherin common room all evening." James sighed. "I know she's not stupid but she hasn't got any defensive powers but I couldn't really forbid her since we didn't set any rules against it."

"We don't have the same prejudices as the Wizards seem to about Slytherin." Coup frowned. "But I'll have a word with her tomorrow. We did say to stay together."

"Thanks." James nodded. "I'm going up to sleep."

"James." Piper stood quickly. "Dumbledore raised the same concern that you did. He's worried about Voldemort being more direct about finding you."

"Looks like we may have a visit soon then." James shrugged. "I think you should tell the others so they know what is at stake if they walk around alone."

James turned and disappeared up the stairs quietly, slipping into bed and resigning himself to staring at the ceiling as he tried to sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next day**

James came down the next morning slightly later than usual to find that Piper had already made a orange juice for everybody. James crossed the room and poured himself a glass before leaning on the counter and looking around the common room. Piper was up, obviously, as was Coup, Leo, Paige, Joshua, Felix, Matt and Jason. None of the girls were up yet. Felix was looking happier than the day before even if Joshua looked a bit strained for getting up earlier.

"You're up late." Piper pointed out.

"I couldn't get to sleep until late last night." James admitted freely.

"With everything happening yesterday I don't blame you." Paige spoke up.

"I think I'll go for a run as Shadow today." James told them. "I need to stretch my legs a bit."

"Alright, James." Piper nodded. "Make sure you come back for lunch though."

"Yes, Piper." James grinned at her before stretching his arms over his head and rippling forms so that he ended up stretching as a Black Panther. He purred gently as he was attacked by Felix, Jason and Matt but he nudged them away and pawed at the door that led to the statue so that Piper would open it for him.

He slunk along the corridors, his ears could pick out the odd murmur of conversation from early rising students but he ignored them. He was crossing the entrance hall when he smelt Minerva's scent enter from the upstairs doorway that led indirectly to the Staff rooms. He paused with one paw off the ground and turned his head as she walked down the steps.

"James?" Minerva asked as she stopped well clear of him. James put his paw back on the ground before pushing up from the ground and turning back into his human body rather reluctantly.

"I was going out to sniff around the Forbidden Forest for the morning." James told her.

"Are you sure you'll be safe?" Minerva asked.

"The Black Panther is one of the best predators in the world, especially adapted to hunting in forests." James told her. "I doubt even the Centaurs will know I'm there."

"Well I hope you're right, James." Minerva told him. "There was actually something else I wanted to warn you about."

"What is it?" James asked.

Minerva pulled him to the side as a group of children came down the hall. "Ronald Weasley is making a lot of noise about you knowing where Harry is. He's trying to convince people in the ministry that they should use your familial bond to track him down."

"That's against the law." James pointed out.

"That's why he's having trouble convincing people." Minerva sighed. "But Dumbledore announced that he'd back up any decision to track Harry that way."

"Bastard." James swore.

"James!" Minerva gasped.

"Minerva," James sighed. "I'd rather see Dumbledore rot then help them find Harry."

"Yes, well if the Ministry decides to do it you won't have much of a choice." Minerva told him. "It's already being speculated that you altered the Wards to allow Harry inside."

"The Wards wouldn't allow that kind of manipulation and besides, I'm not so easy to lock up." James told her warningly before rippling back into Shadow. He ran from the room and out into the open air.

James had plenty of time to think over what Minerva had warned him about. He didn't really need to pay all that much attention as he ran around the grounds but he was assessing what he would do if it came to a fight. He couldn't just run when Chris' family could take the fall for him. But he was sure that given enough time and warning he could lock down Hogwarts' wards and protect them until they could all orb out.

James was following a fourth year class from Care of Magical Creatures when his finely tuned senses picked out the crackle of fire. And instant later he smelt fire on the wind and turned his head to see a Fire Ball heading directly at him. He twisted his body and jumped clear before crouching low to the ground and drawing in air. He could hear screams from the fourth years behind him but he drowned them out with an air rendering roar that sent hundreds of birds into the air and spread throughout the school.

There was no way that James could defend the children long enough for them to escape while in this form and in an instant he took to his feet and rippled back into his human form. He sketched a quick Rune that warped the air in between him and the two dozen demons walking slowly towards him and even as he looked their forms became distorted. It would be impossible to aim through that and it worked both ways. He turned to the side and began rounding the children up towards the school, at least the children stupid enough to not already have fled to the school. A Fire Matrix flew clear off to his right and James turned back to the demons to see a few of them stumbling along through the distortion.

James started working on a large shield to surround him and as soon as the first Rune sequence was completed it sunk into the ground and a blue wall rose up around James. The first Demons came through James' distortion and sneered at him and then attacked without warning. Their Fire Balls were absorbed by his shield and James began work on the next sequence which sunk into the shield and sent the next few Fire Balls back at their creators who were forced to dodge to avoid them.

"James!" It was Paige's voice that made him turn around to see Paige, Piper, Dumbledore, Minerva, Flitwick and Weasley and his four Aurors running towards him. James ignored them after that and began working on his next Rune sequence even as war broke out around him. His next sequence took him a few long painful minutes but just as he was about to release it he paused.

"Paige!"

"James!"

"Get everyone back to the castle!" James told her holding a vast nimbus of Runic Magic in his hands. The sequence was so complex it hung around him filling the space within the shield with flickering Runes that pulsed with his magic. Draining him.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked.

"Trust me!" James shouted back.

"Not likely!" Weasley yelled even as he sent a cutting curse at a demon who growled at him, forcing him to shield when he sent a Fire Ball at him.

"Headmaster!" Paige shouted.

"We must defend..." The Headmaster began.

"Get out of here you old Bastard or you'll all die when I release this sequence!" James interrupted him angrily.

"Everyone touch!" Paige yelled and grabbed Piper. Even though they still fought they gathered around Paige and Piper and in a sudden burst of orbs they all vanished up into the air. In an instant all twenty Demons turned on James and their combined power began to take apart his shield.

James gritted his teeth and released his magic sending it into his last sequence which burned in an inferno of flames as it ate its way up into the sky before exploding outwards with a shockwave more powerful than any attack Wyatt was capable of. It burst out and through the attacking demons almost like a silver starburst that vanquished them all.

James sagged to the floor in a dead faint once the spell was complete yet his shield lingered enough that Paige had to orb through it to pick him up and orb him up to the Hospital Wing.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When James woke up he knew where he was purely from experience. He was in a bed near the far end of the Hospital Wing. He shook off his drowsiness and sat up against the headboard only to see Madam Pomfrey standing to his right with her arms crossed and her wand tapping her forearm. She was staring at James and biting her lip.

"Give me one good reason not to call the Headmaster." She told him.

"Why would you want to do that?" James asked though his heart from in his throat and beating so loud she had to be able to hear it.

"I've treated you a dozen times if not more...James." She told him. "I couldn't forget a patient like you. You still show the signs of the malnutrition from your childhood even under what I can only assume is near starvation in that hell of a place."

James slid his feet over the sides of bed, glad that they'd obviously left him dressed in his jeans and t-shirt. He put his feet on the ground and stood up. "I won't let you tell them." James told her warningly.

Her wand was pointed at him in an instant. "I know how to cause the wounds I heal, Mr. Potter."

James' delved into his Powers of Projection and before Madam Pomfrey could cast a spell her wand flew sideways away from them both. "I told you I won't let you tell them who I am. I have to be here to protect my family."

"How can I be sure that's the only reason you're here?" Pomfrey asked.

"You believe I killed my family?" James asked.

"I saw the signs of malnutrition." She told him.

"And you think that gives me motive to do what he did to them?" James snarled very much like the Panther he sometimes was.

Madam Pomfrey took a half step back and rubbed at her head. "So Minerva and Miss. Granger are right?"

"And as far as I'm aware, Charlie, Bill and the Twins." James told her. "It's surprising how many of the people I was supposed to be able to trust turned out to be utter bastards."

"Mr. Potter!" Pomfrey gasped automatically.

"Mr. Evans." James countered. "If you really have to argue with me over how I describe the people that locked me up in Azkaban for no reason."

"So you claim." Pomfrey pointed out.

"They didn't even let me defend myself." James told her. "No Veritaserum, no sworn oath. They found me at the scene so they locked me up!"

"That's not what we heard." Pomfrey told him. "The headmaster told us that he had evidence that you tortured at least your Aunt."

"That's a load of crap!" James told her. "All they'd have to do is look at my own memories and they'd see Voldemort there!"

"Then why didn't they?" Pomfrey argued.

"Because they're idiots!" James told her. "Now I need your word that you won't tell anyone who I really am."

"And if I don't give you my word?" She asked.

"If they find out who I am they'll accuse my family for crimes they don't deserve." James told her. "I'll do an awful lot before I allow any harm to come to them."

"And that includes what?" She prompted.

"Wiping your memory for starters." James told her. "I've never done it before but I know the Runes. I don't want to accidentally wipe your mind, Madam Pomfrey, but if it's that or lose one of my friends to some bastard like Weasley then I'll do it."

Pomfrey eyed him for a moment before sighing. "At least your sense of loyalty wasn't too badly damaged." She told him with a smile. "Minerva has been so worried that what the Headmaster let them do to you would permanently damage your sense of right and wrong. That you'd never trust or love again."

"It took years." James told her. "My mind was shattered. Chris is helping to put me back together again."

James flinched violently when Madam Pomfrey lunged forwards and wrapped him in a hug. James pulled away after only a moment. "You have my word. No other soul will hear what I know from me."

There was the normal throb of magic that told James that she was speaking the truth and he relaxed. "What time is it?" James asked.

"If you leave now you should make dinner." She told him.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." James nodded.

"Poppy."  She told him.

"James." James smiled at her. "Oh and only Hermione and Charlie know."

"I'll try to give you any warning I can if things start going wrong." She told him.

"Thanks Poppy." James smiled before rippling into Shadow and ran from the room and down towards the Great Hall. He slipped through the open door and instantly slipped around the side of the room as soon as he noticed the gang of Aurors in the middle of the room. He moved around the back of the Staff table as he heard the discussion.

"We merely wish to discover what magic he used to kill the Demons today." One of the Aurors announced. There were five of them and it was clear that Weasley and the four others would back them up if it came to it.

"Then you may ask him when he wakes up." Dumbledore told them. "In fact perhaps we can have this meeting in a more private place?"

"Where would you suggest then?" The Auror asked.

"Please, stay for dinner and we shall await Mr. Evans." Dumbledore motioned them to a side table.

James looked around planning to leave and go to this private meeting later but he realised that the children of the family had seen him. Joshua smiled at him and motioned for the others to stay silent but to James' shock and clearly Joshua's horror Patience stood up and pointed at him. "Patience!" Joshua gasped.

"James is here." She announced. James stared at her in horror even as Piper and Paige stood up. James slunk forwards and rippled back into his human form.

"She's right." James told them. "What is so important that you need to disrupt dinner?"

"The fact that the magical surge from your spell triggered the sensors designed to find the escaped convict Harry Potter." The Auror said and lifted his wand.

"A spell obviously designed to register his blood." James pointed out without missing a beat completely ignoring Patience's betrayal. "Blood that we share through our Great Grandparents."

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private?" Dumbledore offered.

"No, this is fine." James interrupted casting a look at Piper and Paige to stop them arguing with him. He didn't want to go into a little room with all these people if it came to a fight. "Now, what is it you want?"

"Well, that's obvious." Weasley held his wand loosely and now it was James against ten Aurors. Piper and Paige saw this and stood up. Joshua moved to the side of his own table even though Prue, the second oldest girl, was arguing quietly with Patience who seemed rather out of it. "We want Harry Potter." Weasley continued with a sneer.

"Do you know where he is?" The Auror from before asked.

"Of course he does." Weasley snapped. "They all do!"

James was about to speak when Patience staggered up from her seat and walked towards James with a rather odd gait and an expression of concentration on her face. "He's Harry Potter." She hissed through clenched teeth.

"Patience!" Coup yelled in shock as he and Leo stood.

It seemed her words had reached all through the Great Hall though since the children closest to him were being dragged away by the older students. All ten of the Aurors were looking at him in horror even with their wands aimed directly at him. James clenched his fists and hissed through his teeth in anger. "She's cursed. Can't you see that Weasley?"

"That's ridiculous!" Weasley snapped. "Who'd curse a child?"

"You are an Auror right?" James looked at him in surprise. "And you can't even see the signs of the Imperius?"

"She's just doing what is right." The Auror from before smirked at him. "She obviously won't hide a murderer like the rest of your family."

"Is this true?" Minerva gasped looking at James.

"If he won't admit it now he will after a few hours in an interrogation room." Weasley smirked. "Surrender now, Potter!"

"Chris! Wyatt!" Piper yelled sharply even as she and Paige moved towards James. James shook his head at them.

"Don't help me." James told them sternly. "None of these people knew who I was. I tricked them."

"You're lying!" Weasley snapped.

"You stupid idiot!" James snarled and twisted violently as he sketched a Rune that blasted straight at Patience. It struck her in the chest even as the Aurors sent stunners at him which missed as James ducked. The light of his spell vanished and Patience fell to the ground sobbing. Joshua rushed to her and lifted her up and away from the fight even as the room froze as a Rune blazed up into the air from where she'd been standing. It formed into a complex Rune that was somebody's personally Rune before it streaked away towards the Slytherin table where it struck a seventh year, sending him flying off the bench.

"That spell tracked the caster of the Imperius Curse." James told Dumbledore. "At least do one thing right in your life!"

James had given up any hope of convincing them he wasn't Harry Potter, his only worry now was escaping from here. And he didn't want any of Chris' family getting in trouble for it. The Aurors spread out and James was forced to raise a shield which was pummelled down in seconds by the power of their spells. James couldn't spare the concentration needed to delve into his Wicca powers and he had to use his Runes to defend himself.

He knew it would light him up to every tracking spell aimed at him but he threw out a punch of his Wicca magic and summoned Minerva's wand to him since she was the closest. He made a quick change to his shield to briefly let the wand fly through and then caught it in his hand. He felt like he was on Prozac as his magic flew through his body filling every cell with power. His eyes glowed green even through Chris' illusion and his hair shifted back to its normal black colour even as an invisible wind blew around him.

James wasn't a match for Voldemort for nothing though and it had been years since he'd touched a wand and it burned through him, desperate to be used with a focus rather than his Runes. He waved Minerva's wand and with a crack like thunder he cast a mass disarming curse that burst out around him sending most of the head table's occupants and all the Aurors flying away from him. Then he did something he'd learnt to do since he'd seen Dumbledore and Voldemort duelling in the Ministry. Teleportation.

He twisted his entire body and swept the wand over his head as he whispered the words to the spell and felt himself flow through the Hall without a sound until he reappeared in front of the doors. Before the Hall's occupants could really realise what he'd done the doors to the Hall were thrown open and the magical blast that had done it sent James flying and the wand from his fingers.

He instantly got to his feet only to be hit by a powerful stunner that he couldn't shake off.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Potter Manor**

James was roughly awakened with the distinct feeling of an Enervate spell and his eyes opened to see that he was chained to a chair in the Dining Hall of his own home. He held his head low even as he looked around the room. He was at the bottom of the table chained to a large oak chair and he couldn't feel his magic. At the opposite end of the table sat Dumbledore, a Wizarding Judge and the Minister for Magic and then ranging down the table were the Order of the Phoenix members and the entirety of Chris' family including Wyatt, Chris, Phoebe and Henry. Chris was evidently being held in place by both his father and older brother. Patience was sitting at Phoebe's side, under her mother's arm, and she was crying rather freely and refused to look at James.

Around the room stood what seemed to be an entire division of Aurors. "Isn't this a bit overkill for an untrained Wizard?" James asked even though his hands were shaking so hard that everybody saw it. He gripped the arms of the chair to still them. He couldn't completely clear his head of his worst memories.

"They'll be no mistakes this time." The Minister told him. "You are Harry James Potter?"

James ignored him and turned his head to look at Patience. "I don't blame you for this Patience. You don't have the experience to fight the Imperius Curse."

She looked at him before sadly before burying her head in Phoebe's shoulder. "Answer the question Mr. Potter." The Minister ordered.

James turned to Felix. "You'll be okay, just make sure you talk to your older Cousins and to your parents." He then turned to Piper and Paige. "Go home. You shouldn't have to fight for these hypocrites."

"Mr. Potter!" The Minister was on his feet now. "Answer the question!"

"Chris?" James looked at his boyfriend. "I'm sorry." James fingered the ring on his left ring finger with his thumb and pushed it up his finger. "Please, take it. They'll lose it."

Chris flinched but it was Wyatt that stood up. "Stop!" Dumbledore told him. "He'll be able to orb them out."

"For goodness sake." Minerva snapped and stood before strolling down the room and to James' side. She took the ring from James. "I'm so sorry, Har... James."

"It's not your fault." James told her and waited until she had put the ring in Chris' hand before he turned to the Minister. "Why does it matter what I answer? You didn't ask any questions last time."

"It doesn't really matter. This is a mere formality." The Minister sneered at him. "You'll be placed in Azkaban until the decision can be made formally. Then you will be given the Dementor's Kiss."

"Where's this proof?" Piper stood up.

"That's none of your business." The Minister told her.

"Chris is my husband as far as the law is concerned." James told them. "We have sworn to each other and it's binding. He has the right to see any evidence pertaining to my conviction."

"He has to ask."  Minerva spoke up and ignored the levelled look she received from Dumbledore.

"I want to see it." Chris told Dumbledore.

"Maybe it will prove to you that you've been harbouring a murderer." The Minister told them and turned to the side with a gesture. A moment later an Auror moved forwards with what James recognised as a boxed Penseive. The Auror placed it on the table and opened the lid before waving his wand over the surface. Trails of smoke began to rise from the dish.

"This recording was taken from the mind of Petunia Dursley." Dumbledore told them. James jerked in his chair hard enough that everyone looked at him. "Did you not think she had survived what you had done to her?"

"Your 'Voldemort did it' defence might have worked if you'd made sure that Mrs. Dursley had died." The Minister sneered at him as James went pale. He hadn't ever imagined that his Aunt had survived. He'd seen all that blood but had assumed she had died and they hadn't told him any differently.

"She...?" James stammered out unable to speak properly. His new family were looking at him with more emotions then he could count. They didn't really know what had happened to his relatives. James had never gone into details.

"Shall we watch?" The Minister asked with something close to glee in his eyes. The Auror waved his hand and the smoke coalesced into a vague three dimensional image of what Petunia Dursley had remembered of the attack. The inside of the Dursley living room was easily seen even as Petunia looked across the room at the dead bodies of Dudley and Vernon. Even as they all watched the gruesome sight of the bloodied men she turned her vision to include Harry Potter who stood over her with an expression of hatred on his face. The figure twitched his wand and his mouth incanted a spell that Petunia hadn't been able to catch.

Petunia's screams were easily audible though and all of James' family jerked at the sound of true pain, pain at the Cruciatus which none of them had ever witnessed before. James jerked in his chair, his eyes lost focus as Petunia's screams drove into his mind just as they had for eighteen months within Azkaban and in his dreams since then. But it wasn't Voldemort that was casting the spell on her but James.

The memory ended and Dumbledore stood up with a look of utter loathing on his features. "When we took you in we never imagined you capable of something like that." He told James. "Your Aunt is in the permanent Ward at St. Mungos and will never regain her sanity after what you did to her."

"I didn't..." James gasped out, he was hyperventilating. He looked at Chris but Chris' eyes were pressed shut. He looked at Wyatt but his teeth were gritted. "No! That wasn't me!"

Chris' eyes snapped open and locked with James. His mouth opened to speak and James knew Chris was about to cast him away with his next words. James turned his head away not wanting to see Chris' rejection and he felt his heart tear apart inside him. Magic throbbed through the room and James could only see their lives. He didn't know what he had planned but he wasn't planning on going back to Azkaban. He couldn't cast magic but this wasn't really a spell. He shoved at his life forcing it away from him like he had in the past but this time it wasn't going into a younger version of himself.

"James! No!" Coup yelled at him as there was a scramble. James had dropped his mental shields to do this and Coup had obviously read his desire to kill himself rather than go back to Azkaban. James didn't want to know what the empaths and Felix were feeling. He felt a stunning spell hit him square in the chest and his world went black again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James woke up and opened his eyes only to see a vast blackness as if he'd gone blind. He thought for a moment as if he was awaking from another nightmare but the hard floor was too real. The remembered stench of rusting iron was too clear in his advanced sense of smell and the cold was too embracing to be anything but Azkaban.

He scrambled across the floor, tearing skin from the palms of his hands, until he hit the wall. He followed it desperately to a corner and pushed himself into it. His arms came around to hug his knees to his chest and he pushed his face into his legs trying to pretend he wasn't there.

Then the moans and the screams began.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	25. The ragged crevices of the mind

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; I'm really sorry for the long delay on this and also for how morbid this chapter is. That's just the way it is I'm afraid though I probably won't get so many threats at the end of this chapter compared to the last cliffy.

Also I've been asked again to clarify the Halliwell family tree so I'll point to the link above that says 'Phoenix Catcher' and ask anybody in confusion to scroll down my profile to the list of names, ages and powers. Thank you and please enjoy this chapter. I loved writing it.

Chapter 25; The ragged crevices of the mind

_James looked out over the room and then down at the quivering boy at his feet. One of the dirty Wiccans. He raised his wand and a moment later the wonderful screams of pure agony caressed his ears, filling him with happiness. He cut off the spell and looked down at the crazed look in the boy's eyes before casting the final spell. The Killing Curse._

_"That's the first one." His voice hissed. "Soon you'll be all alone in the world, my dear Harry."_

James gargled out something similar to a scream as he scrambled up in the pitch darkness of his cell, his legs gave out under him before he was even upright and he crawled desperately across his cell until he collided with the far wall where he scratched his way along it with his hands until he found the corner where he proceeded to try to get as far into the corner as he could before he pressed his face into his hands and sobbed. Unable to think of anything but Luke's face as he'd been tortured and killed. Voldemort wasn't happy with just letting Azkaban get to him. He didn't know how long he'd been here, it felt like an eternity, but already Voldemort was attacking his family.

_'They think I'm a murderer.'_ James reminded himself. _'They hate me.'_

With that last thought James' mind finally gave in to his nightmares and he shivered in the corner of the damp and dark cell knowing that he was at his end.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

Chris shoved at his older brother as Wyatt tried to pull him away from the door but his older brother was ready for it and merely kept a hold of Chris' arm. "Chris, it won't work."

"I want him out of there, Wyatt!" Chris yelled. His face was streaked with tears and even though James had been taken away almost seventy-two hours ago he hadn't gotten a single moment's rest. "I'll do anything I have to."

"Like what, Chris?" Wyatt snapped and drew his brother back away from the door even as he struggled. "There's nothing we can do. Gemma and Coup are up 'there' trying to find a way of helping him but we placed the enchantments ourselves and we could only bring them down with James' help."

"We can still do more than just stand around doing nothing! It's almost like nobody but me even cares that he's gone!" Chris yelled at his brother turning all of his anger at Wyatt. Wyatt glared back but they were interrupted from whatever could have happened as Felix leapt away from the other children settled around the fireplace and wrapped his arms around Chris, pressing his face into Chris' chest as he cried. Chris looked down at the top of his head in surprise before hugging him back, instantly regretting his words. Of course they all cared that James had been stolen away from them. Felix especially had taken a bad turn, he was scared to leave the rooms without either Wyatt, Josh or Chris with him and the others weren't much better.

James had been their guide to this strange world that revolved around magic, he'd protected them from people like Ronald Weasley even though they all knew that every time James had seen his old friend it had been like a knife to the heart for him. With the exception of the four empaths and telepaths they'd all seen Azkaban and felt the horror there and they'd all seen the way it had affected Felix. There had been a lot of talk about how James had survived the last time he'd been there after what had happened to Felix when confronted with the place for only a few moments and it terrified Chris to think that James, his husband, would want to kill himself.

Chris wasn't the only one massively hit by this. Patience, his cousin, was distraught beyond belief. When they'd all realised why Coup had shouted at James at his trial they'd all gone into shock. Right in front of them James had tried to end his life, all because of the prospect of being locked back up in Azkaban. The horror of the place seemed all the more real to them now, even after witnessing James' few panic attacks and even after seeing the desolate and storm ravaged island from afar. Patience had been taken back to San Francisco by Phoebe and Coup to try to get her to calm down and Piper had tried to get Chris to go too but Chris wasn't willing to put even one more mile between himself and James than he had to.

"I'm sorry, Felix." Chris sighed and hugged his younger cousin even tighter.

"Just stop arguing." Josh ordered his two older cousins. "We get you want to help him but shouting at each other isn't going to do anything."

"If we're going to help it'll have to be without the Wizards' help and we'll have to come up with something incredible if it's going to work." Wyatt pointed out looking over at the children of the family. Chris holding Felix. Josh standing with Matt and Ashley, the two youngest on either side and finally on the sofas looking depressed were Prue, Anna, Jason, Pennie and finally Luke.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Azkaban**

James lay on his side knowing in some distant part of his mind that the last of his mental defences had crumbled several hours ago and as he stared at the food that had magically appeared in the middle of his room he couldn't help but laugh slightly at the irony of it all. He and the people he'd known in San Francisco, in a time when if he spoke people spoke back, had made it impossible for him to escape. The last time Shadow had saved him but Shadow was lying on the other side of the cell only visible when his white fangs flashed in the darkness and he'd told James that it was impossible to escape that way. They'd put a spell on him to stop it.

The other way he knew now that he could have used last time was some Wiccan spell. Put a few words together and 'poof' he could magick his way out of it but no... he'd put a blasted enchantment on the island to stop Wiccan and Demonic magic from getting through. Even his little fairy god-mother couldn't get to him now. James had tried calling for her early on but they'd been no floating light telling him how to escape. Even she had to believe he was guilty now.

His eyes unfocused and he struggled with himself. Trying to force his broken mind to keep him awake and not slip away into Voldemort's mind to witness what he was doing. He scrambled up and punched the wall but that only broke open the back of his hand. He turned to try and find Shadow and found him watching with bright green eyes. "You'll stop it, Shadow right? Just bite me! Please!"

Shadow turned his head away and James lost his temper throwing himself at the Black Panther only to slam through the hallucination and hit his head on the wall, losing consciousness even as Voldemort's mind pulled him away from reality.

_He laughed nastily as he surveyed the Death Eaters before him. "So glad you could join me, Harry." He told himself. "You're just in time to witness poor Miss. Halliwell's death. She betrayed you after all. Think of this as my gift."_

_James looked down at the ground before him and the torn up form of a barely conscious Patience Halliwell. He looked away and nodded to the three Death Eaters that stood around her and together they raised their wands and cast numerous cutting curses and pain spells making Patience writhe around on the ground as her head tipped back with an almost silent cry for help. 'No!' He yelled at himself and his wand made a small flick towards the Death Eater on his right but he quickly stopped it. "You're weak, Harry. You can't stop this. Just enjoy the show. The next will be soon, very soon. Dumbledore's not bothered with protecting them anymore, he's betrayed them too just like he did you."_

_James raised his wand one last time. "Harry never forgave you by the way Miss. Halliwell. Know that he helped me kill you." James heard himself saying. "Avada Kadavra!"_

James screamed and threw himself up from the floor scrambling around the wall as he tried, vainly, to search for the bars to his cell. He could smell where they were but no matter how much he scraped his nails against the rocks of the wall he couldn't get to them. "Luke!" He whispered desperately. "Patience." He sobbed and fell to the floor, pressing his forehead against the damp stone wall even though it was merely a trick of magic. "First Luke and now Patience. Please no."

He trailed off before a wave of cold struck him and he shoved himself away from the wall and into the back corner of his cell trying to get away from the Dementor that he couldn't see but knew was approaching. He could hear it's rattling breath and it grated through his body and soul, ripping little bits away from his sanity even as his head filled with his worst memories. Countless people died all over again in his mind and others cried for his help even through his imagination. Poor little Josh McKay reaching for him only to turn his back when James reached out in return. Patience snubbing him time and time again and dying thinking he'd never forgiven her for turning him in and Felix, sobbing in a corner without James there to help him. And finally Chris, just standing there watching him with such a disappointed look on his face.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

"What did they say?" Chris leapt to his feet as an orb trail revealed James' Whitelighter and then a glow of red light announced the arrival of his Uncle Coup.

"We tried for more than a day, Chris." Coup sighed. "We simply can't get to him."

"Can you contact him yet?" Piper asked. It was obvious that she, like most of the family, had been having trouble sleeping. She was pale and clearly upset and she had been constantly fretting over Chris.

"We've tried but it's not possible." Gemma sighed before glancing around at everybody listening. "There's something I've come to realise though but I'm not sure you'll want everybody to hear it."

"We're not leaving." Matt jumped to his feet. "If it's about James we want in."

"Matthew." Paige cast him a look but shook her head in defeat and looked at Gemma. "I don't think we should keep it from them, whatever it is."

"Alright." She sighed. "When I sensed that James was going to... uh... hurt himself after that trial I could sense him easily. For a few hours after that I could as well, even once behind the Enchantments you placed. As you know I tried to orb to him but I couldn't get through to him."

"We know this." Wyatt pointed out.

"After that few hours I guess James woke up from whatever spell they transported him with and at that moment I felt a massive wave of emotions that I can't even behind to understand. After that it went silent. I couldn't sense him again." Gemma sighed and leaned back against the kitchen counter as she rubbed at her head. "He threw up defences so strong that even I couldn't get through them to access the link between us. I couldn't even track him."

"So he's protecting his mind?" Chris asked. "Isn't that a good thing?" He asked desperately.

"It was until merely twelve hours ago when I suddenly sensed him again." Gemma looked ready to cry. "His mental defences have crumbled and now he has no protection. If I concentrate on him I can sense where he is and that he isn't in any major physical danger but his emotions are broken, scattered and so confusing I can barely stand them. It's all parts of thoughts and random compulsions. One moment he's trying to do one thing in his mind and then he's somewhere else entirely and it gets worse."

"How can it get worse?" Chris sounded hysterical and he crossed his arms across his chest. Wyatt pulled him against his side and hugged him gently.

"Some of the clearer emotions I've gotten are clearly not James'." Gemma covered her mouth for a moment as if she was about to be sick. "They are happy, gleeful and malicious. Sickening."

"His defences are down?" Chris asked before wincing and burying his face in his older brother's shoulder. "Oh god."

"What, son?" Leo asked.

Chris looked up at his father and then to his mother and his Aunt Paige. "You remember when we went back to the past and we helped you kill the Death Eaters?"

"Of course." Paige nodded. "It was a long time ago as far as we're concerned but it's rather hard to forget what happened."

"You remember the argument between you and him about whether we should kill them since they weren't demons?"

Piper nodded before her eyes widened. "He said he used to have to witness the Death Eater raids from Voldemort's point of view." Piper covered her own mouth and looked like she was going to collapse. Leo steadied her.

"If his defences are down than Voldemort can use the bond they share to access James' mind." Gemma informed them all. "It seems he's doing this again. Forcing James to witness his actions."

"Not just witness." Chris mumbled. "Actually commit them."

"If Dementors weren't enough." Coup sighed.

"We need to get him out of there before it's too late." Paige said.

"Too late for what, mom?" Luke, her second eldest son, asked.

There was a horrible silence for a moment and Chris simply couldn't take it and turned and stumbled out of the room and out onto the balcony where he gave into his desire to crumble down and sit against the wall, draw in his legs and cry as he hugged James' promise ring to his chest, ignoring the way the chain he'd hung it on pressed against the back of his neck.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Azkaban – Cell Block A – High Security**

Rufus Scrimgeour studied the young man through the bars of his cell. The place was cold and damp and the lingering terror of the Dementors hung thick in the air even though they'd moved away to allow the Minister of Magic and his entourage to visit Harry Potter. He was sitting in the corner of his cell with his arms around his raised knees and he was utterly and completely silent and motionless except for the odd move of his head towards something only he could see along the right wall. Occasionally his mouth moved as if he was talking but no sound came out.

"He lost his voice several days ago, Minister." The Warden told him, "He spent most of his time ranting and screaming about hallucinations but starting two nights ago he started screaming about two people called Patience and Luke."

"And you don't find that strange enough to report to the Ministry?" Rufus asked without taking his eyes off of the boy. Even he had to admit that the sight tore at him and he had to remind himself of what the boy had done to his Aunt. Nobody could say that Harry Potter was evil but insane? Definitely. And nobody had noticed it at Hogwarts.

"Honestly, Sir? No." The Warden shook his head. "Everybody goes insane down here. It's just people go in different directions."

The Minister grunted before finally giving in and asking the question. "Why are his eyes like that?"

"You mean the white glaze?" The Warden asked. "That's why I called you. We don't know. My report says he has Wiccan Magic and to start with he tried a few things but they failed, probably because of the enchantment that the Order of the Phoenix placed over the Island. We haven't detected a single wisp of magic since then, not until this. Note how he's looking directly at us even though he can't hear us."

"And he knows where the bars are?" Rufus asked.

"Somehow, yes." The Warden nodded. "Honestly, Minister. I don't see the point in hauling him away to be Kissed. He's too far gone already."

"Insane in just a week." Rufus shook his head. "Has he tried to kill himself again?"

The Warden shook his head. "He spends most of his time just sitting like that muttering to himself."

"Perhaps you're right but the people are calling for something more than this imprisonment. He managed to hide in Hogwarts and pretended to protect our children for over a month. It's three weeks until Halloween and the Ministry wants to do it then." Rufus told him. "What do you think of moving him to a less secure area. Away from so many Dementors. We want this to be a boost in moral. We can't afford to have a raving lunatic to scare them."

"I wouldn't want to risk it." The Warden shook his head. "He's powerful, maybe more so than Dumbledore. And he's already escaped once even from this very block. Move him somewhere else and he might find another way."

"But his Animagus is blocked." Rufus argued.

"Even so, Minister. I don't want him killing my guards if he escapes." The Warden told him, unwilling to be moved on the subject. Rufus grunted and together they all turned away from the sight of Harry Potter.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_He was standing in a dark and miserable room filled with cloaked figures wearing white and silver skull masks. At the head of the room stood the only one whose face was visible, his skin was strangely pale and his nose was merely a slit. Voldemort._

_Voldemort was muttering to himself, almost rambling and for some reason when he came out of the ramblings he could hear him clearer. "We've killed four of them now, my dear Harry, and I've got another one here for you now. Soon I'll get to your beloved Chris and then you really will be alone. Alone except for me."_

_He tried to move, to find out what was happening but found he couldn't. Voldemort gestured with a hand and the Death Eaters moved away, strangely fluid in their movements, as if they were simply a curtain and he saw what they had been standing around. His little Cousin. Felix._

_He was bloody and seemed to have been through hours of torture already. "This one's already given us so much fun, Harry. Hours of it, ever since we stole him out of Hogwarts without his so called 'loving' family noticing. They don't care about him or what he feels. I'm going to give him what he really wants, Harry. His death. His escape."_

_Voldemort laughed but even as he watched Voldemort flinched and shook his head as if trying to rid himself of a large migraine. "Nice try, Harry, but you're in no state to stop me." Voldemort raised his arm and his wand towards Felix and he tried again to move only to fail as he watched Voldemort cast the Killing Curse._

"No!" Chris screamed as he tumbled out of his bed, his mind reaching out with all the shock and horror of the premonition. It took him a few attempts to untangle himself from his covers and he heard Matt and Jason calling to him telepathically. "Felix!" Chris yelled both verbally and mentally. "Paige! Wyatt!" Chris added knowing the two would hear him and rush to his help. Chris slammed through his door, using his magic as much as his actual hand to open the door and he barged into the room across the hall that Felix, Luke and Joshua shared startling the three out of their sleep. He fell to the ground at Felix's side and breathed out a shocked sigh of relief at seeing him alive and well.

Before they could work out why Chris had just slammed into their room Chris pulled Felix to him and hugged him tightly, knowing that Felix could feel his desire to protect him and keep him from harm. "Chris?" Felix asked. "What happened?"

"Chris!?" Wyatt gasped as he rushed into the room with Matt and Jason on his trail. He stopped as he saw Chris holding a confused Felix to his chest.

Chris slowly let go of him and stood up on shaky legs. "I'm glad you're okay, Felix." Chris sighed and rubbed at his head. A dozen sets of footsteps sounded through the hallway and his Uncle Coup, Aunt Paige and his own parents rushed into the room while the girls stayed out in the hallway.

Chris shivered and collapsed down to sit on the edge of Felix's bed. The boy lifted his duvet and set it around Chris' shoulders before hugging him quickly. "I saw a premonition of the present." Chris told them all. "It was... so real."

"Perhaps we should all get dressed and go downstairs?" Coup suggested and although most were reluctant not to find out right then and there what was happening they knew they'd get more from Chris after he calmed down. "Wyatt, could you go and get your Aunt Phoebe? We'll need her to take the Premonition from Chris."

Wyatt nodded and ducked out of the room to throw on some extra clothes before orbing away. Paige left to hustle the girls back to their rooms to change. "Alright boys, get dressed and come down stairs." Piper said. "Josh, see to your cousin please." She didn't need to tell him that she meant Chris.

Piper left the room along with Leo and Coup and Josh helped Chris back to his room to make sure he'd be alright.

Almost ten minutes later Chris walked down into the common room where his mom handed him a cup of coffee. Chris was surprised when the door to the Den opened and Paige led Minerva McGonagall inside. Chris eyed her but he knew that she believed in James' innocence and they were limited with what they could do without a guide to the Wizarding World and it's laws. She'd been trying to help them out for days, trying to find a way to circumvent the evidence and find a way to show it for the fake it was even though they didn't know how it had been done.

Chris sat beside Josh on one of the sofas and Felix sat on his other side. Chris was glad that he could see Felix and he was more than nervous that the Premonition he'd had wasn't of the present but of the future. Normally instinct was enough to be sure but having his Aunt's experience would tell them for sure.

Wyatt appeared a few minutes later with Phoebe and Patience on his arms and Patience shied away from Chris and sat with Prue, unwilling to face him though Chris, and all the others, knew that James had been right. She'd been under the Imperious and had had no choice in her actions. The boy had been expelled and it was out in trial whether to sentence him for the crime. The problem was that a lot of the population were calling him a hero for using his initiative to capture Harry Potter.

"Chris honey?" Piper sat on the arm of the chair opposite him. "Why don't you tell us what you saw?"

"I saw Voldemort and a group of Death Eaters." Chris' voice hitched and he glanced down at Felix. "And Felix. They had him and they'd... I don't know what they'd done to him but it wasn't pleasant."

"What happened?" Coup asked, worried for his son.

"Voldemort seemed to be muttering to himself but suddenly he was speaking normally." Chris shut his eyes for a moment before looking to Minerva. "He was talking to James in his head."

"Oh my." Minerva covered her mouth. "He's doing it again. He's forcing images into James' head. He did it throughout his time in the school, especially in his fifth year."

"And James told us that he did it almost constantly when he was in Azkaban the first time." Wyatt told her.

"He said 'We've killed four of them now, Harry.'" Chris continued. "He's making James experience killing people again. James is actually living through killing people."

"And you think this one will happen?" Minerva asked. "That he'll capture Felix and force Harry... James to experience killing him?"

Chris shook his head before frowning. "I don't understand. This one was a premonition of the present but Felix is here."

"That's why you panicked so much." Joshua frowned. "You thought you were too late."

"Chris?" Phoebe moved in front of him and offered her hand. "Show me?"

Chris nodded but paused. "It's not nice, Aunt Phoebe."

"You shouldn't have to do it alone, Chris." Phoebe told him. "And we have to be sure this won't happen." Chris nodded and reached out a hand, taking her own and then concentrating on reliving the premonition once again so that Phoebe could take it from him.

Phoebe stumbled back moments later and Coup caught her. Phoebe shuddered but managed to keep herself composed. Chris shivered and leant back into the sofa. "It was one of the present." Phoebe nodded. "I'm certain of it. Which means something is false about it."

"What though?" Piper asked. "We saw it which means it happened but Felix wasn't there when it happened."

"Oh dear." Minerva sat down on a stool with tears in her eyes. "It's Sirius all over again."

"His godfather?" Chris asked. "James never really talked about it."

"Voldemort sent a false image of Sirius Black being tortured to lure James out of Hogwarts and in doing so Sirius was killed trying to rescue him." Minerva sighed. "He never really forgave himself. If Voldemort is doing it again..."

"You mean he's making up scenes of us being murdered and making James witness them as if he's the one doing it?" Piper asked in horror.

"James won't last long if he thinks we've all been killed." Paige spoke up simply.

Chris tried to stop himself from choking but he didn't manage it and he threw himself up from the sofa and staggered up the stairs to the bathroom. He just about managed to reach the toilet when he threw up. A moment later somebody's arms went around him and he fell sideways into his father's support, letting himself cry like a small child with his father to protect him from the world.

"I have to get him back, dad." Chris told him.

"I know, son." Leo told him. "And we'll get him out. Somehow."

"But how?" Chris managed to get out. "If we hadn't have met, Voldemort would have still come for us and we would have refused and he'd have sent people back to kill us all and James wouldn't have been there to help me fix it."

"What does that matter, Chris?" Leo asked. "What happened happened."

"But that only happened because James' parents died and he went through hell. If he'd saved his parents when we went back in time he would have been happy and we'd all be dead. He sacrificed everything for us, for our family. After only knowing us for a few months he gave it all up." Chris shuddered and refused to say anymore, just holding onto his father as he got over his nausea and pondered how far he'd go to get James out. The answer was simple, he'd do anything and everything, even if he had to take James' place.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_James raised his wand away from the small boy as he stopped screaming in pain and went unconscious. That was the problem with torturing children, their bodies went numb before they died and that simply wasn't as much fun. Adults on the other hand thought they had something to prove._

_'You're wrong.' He told himself, knowing that he was the self in the cell and not the self who controlled him. 'They don't fight to prove themselves to you. They don't care what you think. Nobody does. They fight in case their last moment that they've fought so hard for means that the ones they love live instead of die.'_

_"Let's test that theory shall we?" Voldemort told him, turning away from little Matthew's body to show him Chris, tied up and gagged. "Last more than five minutes and I'll release her." He told the Halliwell boy while gesturing at little Ashley, tied up at Chris' knees._

_"Let's see if you're right, my dear Harry."_

James curled up into a ball but refused to cry even as the image of the three tortured bodies flashed in the darkness. He raised his powers and the darkness was filled with dim white lights as the life force of everything around him became visible to him. This was his solace, the lives that had become everything to him. His last piece of sanity as everyone he loved was killed around him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

"What are you doing, Chris?" His mother asked him.

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Chris told her without looking at her as he placed another candle on the floor in the middle of the room. It was late at night on the twelfth night of James' captivity and they'd just heard about his upcoming execution.

"What are you going to summon?" Piper asked warily and glanced at her husband and two sisters and then to her eldest son who sat there in bemusement and finally to the Wizard and Witch, Charlie and Hermione Weasley who had come to tell Chris with the news. Hermione was in awful shape. Neither she nor Chris had eaten much in the last few days and it was having a bad effect on her pregnancy.

"Who." Chris corrected as he leant down and lit the five candles.

"What's this?" Hermione asked from the sofa beside her husband.

"It's a summoning circle." Wyatt told her.

"For what?" She frowned.

"Who." Chris snapped as he straightened. "His parents."

"Chris!" Piper gasped.

"I should have done this a long time ago but James kept coming up with reasons to stall it. I think he didn't want to see what they thought of him. Especially with what happened in 1981." Chris lectured before grabbing his brother who almost fell off the edge of the sofa as he was forced to stand.

"It can't hurt." Phoebe told her eldest sister. "Maybe they can talk to the Wizards. We're having no luck."

Piper nodded and stood as well, soon joined by her sisters as they stood in a group in front of the circle. Together they chanted the spell. "Hear these words, hear our cries. Spirits from the other side. Come to us, we summon thee. Cross now the great divide."

Almost instantly a trill of soothing sound filled the room and a golden light filtered down through the ceiling landing within the confines of the candles before glittering orbs began to float down as if in no hurry. They spiralled around each other before splitting into two columns that vanished to leave behind two figures, hazy though they were. The two ghosts looked over the group.

The man wore a black suit without a tie with the top buttons of his shirt undone to make it casual. He had the same messy black hair that Chris loved on James and his brown eyes looked them over with a calm expression. The woman was stunning to behold. Vibrant red hair framed her face, falling to the middle of her back. She wore a white dress that could have put any member of royalty to shame. She had a light scattering of freckles on her face but it was her eyes that caught most of their attention. Bright, emerald green eyes that shone out on the world, warming their hearts. Eyes that would have been James' if hadn't experienced so much pain in his life.

"Charlie! Help me up!" Hermione demanded breaking through the silence. With Charlie's help she rose to her feet and walked forwards. "Mr and Mrs Potter. It's such a pleasure. To imagine this is actually possible."

"Hermione Weasley." The woman, Lily, smiled. "There is no way to express our gratitude to you for your years of support for our son when we were not around to help him."

"There was nothing else I could have done." Hermione told her. "Please forgive..."

"No." The man, James proper, spoke up with a shake of his head. "There is no blame on you, Miss. Granger. We have seen all and wept for our son's fate but we know that you could not have done anything to prevent this. As for the rest of you..."

"You have our undying love for what you have done for our son. You took him in when you didn't need to and you helped him see that love was again possible." Lily continued for her husband before taking a step towards Chris though she stayed within the boundaries of the summoning circle. "Chris?"

Chris looked up and tried to meet her gaze only to look down. "I'm sorry." He said meekly.

"I can't imagine that meeting us under these circumstance is easy for you, Chris." Lily told him. "But we take what life gives us and we deal with it. James and I didn't want to leave our son when we did but as you well know if we'd done anything differently then things could have become worse. For one thing you may not have come into our son's life."

"Lot of good that's done." Chris mumbled.

"My son had given up any hope of being happy again." James spoke up. "He travelled the entire span of America to get away from here yet when you needed protecting he came back with you because his love for you and your family is far greater than his fear of this part of the world. That is the gift you gave to him, Chris. You gave him something in life greater than fear."

"I dare say that if my son was here he would want you to leave and return to your home in San Francisco." Lily said as she lifted her chin. "But I don't see that happening and I thank you for that. All of you. Now how about we find a way to rescue my son?"

With her words she took another step forwards and James Potter copied the movement and together they stepped out of the circle and became corporeal. James shook hands with Leo while Lily stepped forwards to greet Hermione, Piper, Paige and Phoebe finally coming to a halt in front of her son's husband. She took his hand, touching the Potter family heirloom that sat upon his ring finger. Her other hand came to rest on the side of his face and she made him look down at her before leaning up and kissing him on the other cheek. "We couldn't be happier with who our son fell in love with, Christopher Halliwell."

"James? Lily?" Leo spoke up. "I don't know if you are aware of everything that's happening to him but we think that Voldemort has gotten into his head. It's possible that by now he thinks that we're all dead."

"We can't be sure exactly but Harry is well aware of the possibility of false images." James nodded at him. "But I can imagine he's not thinking clearly so it may be difficult for him to realise that which means we need somebody to go and tell him you are all still here. At least to set some doubt there."

"And how do we do that?" Chris snapped unable to speak plainly. "If we could get there we could get him out."

"Unfortunately we can't get there." Lily sighed. "Unless summoned we can only go somewhere we've already been and neither of us have ever been there."

"So, that's a dead end?" Wyatt asked.

"Sirius!" Hermione gasped. "Is that possible?"

"Smart girl." James smiled at her. "Sirius was there for so long he could easily haunt it. We just need you to summon him here."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

_James struggled weakly as soon as he found himself standing in front of the burning building in front of him. He knew what it was, it was Grand View Orphanage in San Francisco. James could feel the heat of the flames on his face and the amusement that coursed through his body as he watched the scrambling children escaping through the windows._

_"I'm in your mind now, Harry. I know everything about your life and I'm going to destroy everything that makes you who you are. One thing at a time, starting with your dirty little children." Voldemort laughed._ _"You're mine now, Harry. Go on, raise your hand for me." His body moved, aiming his wand at a small boy who was running from the flames but he never managed to cast his spell. Cracks sounded all around him and he only spared a glance around at the appearing Aurors before he dissapparated._

James looked at the wall in front of him, right at the end of his hand where he had raised it. He laughed before spinning around as something made a noise in his cell. He turned first to Shadow who merely looked at him. "Was that you, Shadow?" James asked. "No?"

"Harry?" Somebody was speaking to him in the darkness and he turned around in a complete circle before his gaze landed on a ghost. Well it had to be a ghost, nothing else could live in here. He yelped and ran when he recognised the ghost.

It had to be dementors, come to torture him again. He curled up in the corner and hid his face in his knees trying to make himself as small as possible. "Shadow. Protect me. Please Shadow." He pleaded with the Panther and hoped with all of his being that the next thing he'd hear would be teeth tearing at flesh.

"Harry?" The image asked again from right in front of him. He tried to press himself back into the wall.

"No."

"It's me, Harry." It said.

"No. No. No." James shook his head.

"James." It said instead. "I need you to look up at me."

James looked up at the use of the name he'd wanted to take and that Voldemort never used. His eyes burnt white as he looked for the life forces and the man in front of him vanished. He sighed in relief. "You're gone now. You don't have any life so you're not real." He muttered half to himself and half to the ghost that was no longer there as far as he was concerned.

"I'm here, James."

"Siri?" James said and loosened up. "Didn't anybody tell you that I killed you?"

"You didn't..."

"And somebody should tell Chris, and Patience that I killed them too. And Felix, Joshua, Luke, Ashley, Piper and the kids at the orphanage. I killed them all." James rambled. "Did somebody tell them. Were they with you, Sirius?"

Hands cupped his face and James panicked and scrambled away heading for his companion. Heading for Shadow. He placed his head against the wall and hid from the world, hid with Shadow. "The dead aren't supposed to touch." James whispered to himself. "Wait." He rolled over. "Am I dead to?" He asked hopefully. "Can I see Chris now? Is he angry that I killed him."

"James, please stop." Sirius sounded so upset.

"Why are you sad, Sirius?" James asked. "I like being dead."

"You're not dead, James." Sirius said, settling down in front of him again. "And neither are any of the others. Voldemort's lying to you. Sending you messages to drive you insane."

James laughed hysterically. "Didn't you hear him, Siri?" James asked. "I'm his now, he can be in here whenever he wants."

Sirius shut his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Chris told me to tell you that they all love you, James. We're trying to find a way to save you but you have to fight this."

"Fight this?" James asked going sober. "What's to fight, Siri? All there is is walls and shadows." He laughed and turned to look at the wall again. "Hear that Shadow? All there is is me, you and the walls?"

Cold spread through the room and James went still before he sobbed and scrambled for the corner, shutting himself in tightly as the Dementors approached. "James, please, just remember that we love you. Just hold on!" Sirius pleaded before James was alone again. Just him, the walls and the Shadows.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

"Dear god, James." Sirius gasped as he arrived back within the summoning circle, still a ghost since that had been the only way for him to haunt Azkaban. He stepped out of the circle and became corporeal. "I honestly don't think I could take that again."

"Did you talk to him?" Chris leapt to his feet and grabbed the older man by the shoulders regardless of the fact he was dead.

"I did." Sirius told him. "He's..."

"He's what?" Piper demanded.

"Honestly?" Sirius leaned back against the counter. "Even if we do get him out of there I'm not sure we can help him anymore. By what I got from him Voldemort can access his mind at any time."

"So it's true?" Wyatt asked. "He's projecting false deaths to him?"

"At least Chris, Patience, Felix, Joshua, Luke, Ashley, and Piper. That's the ones he listed." Sirius winced. "And something about the kids at the Orphanage?" He turned to Paige at that statement.

"Maybe I should..." Paige frowned and trailed off.

"Go, Paige. Find out if anything's happened." Piper told her. Paige nodded and vanished into orbs to get clear of the school of Magic so she could use her cell phone. "Did you see anything we could use to help him escape?"

"Not really." Sirius frowned. "He kept talking to the wall where I think something called Shadow was lying. He wanted 'Shadow' to protect him from me."

"Shadow's his animagus." Chris whispered refusing to take in the talking to himself part of that statement.

"Maybe since they blocked his ability to become Shadow he's disassociated himself with that part of himself to give himself company." Leo suggested.

"He also fell into his life seeing powers." Sirius added, "But I don't see how that could be of any help."

"He could turn it against himself like he tried to do at the trial." Wyatt spoke up though nobody seemed to want to hear that particular conclusion.

"Right now I don't see anything we can use to help him." James Potter spoke up. "I think it's time we go have a word with the Headmaster, Lils."

A nasty smile spread across the beautiful face and she took his hand before they faded from view. "Oh dear." Sirius winced. "Come on, Chris, Wyatt. We need to try to work something out."

Before anything more could be said Paige reappeared in the room. "Boys, I have to get back to San Francisco. Somebody set a massive fire in Grand View Orphanage."

"Isn't that where some of the kids from the summer were sent?" Chris asked.

"So far as I know they all survived but three are in hospital with burns and they haven't found the staff yet." Paige told them. "I need to go."

"Go." Piper told her. "This sounds like what James said to Sirius. For James' sake you need to deal with it but be careful."

"Of course." Paige orbed out of the room.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Azkaban**

James pressed his forehead into the wall of his cell muttering to himself as his mind tried to form coherent thoughts. Sirius had been here and that had pressed into his mind the single need that was left to him. To get out of this place. With that came his need to escape but he pressed away that wording remembering Felix and his own troubles. That of course brought back the conflict in him. Was Felix dead or wasn't he. He'd cast the spell himself as far as he knew, albeit through Voldemort but then Sirius had told him he was still alive.

Then again he knew for a fact that Sirius was dead and Dumbledore had always told him that the dead couldn't come back to life. But then Dumbledore was a bastard that didn't trust him so why should he trust the old coot. Chris had once said he could talk to his parents whenever he wanted and he wished he had before it was too late. His parents wouldn't want to talk to him now that he was mad.

James pressed his forehead harder into the wall to bring himself back to the matter at hand. That's what he was doing, forcing his scattered thoughts to concentrate on a single task. Finding a way out of this place and that meant leaving and not killing himself. Felix had to be alive because he was somebody that needed James and that gave James strength. He'd settle with Voldemort tricking him because he needed to believe that they were still alive. And if he believed that then why not believe that they believed in his innocence still and while he was at it he might as well believe they still loved him.

Sirius had told him they all loved him. A little laugh escaped him and he turned to look at Shadow as he made a sound. For the first time since they'd both been locked up in here his friend was standing up. He moved across the cell and nuzzled at the side of James' neck. James laughed and then shivered. And then laughed again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – Grounds**

Chris cursed and scribbled off another spell from the list. Hermione sat on the ground with a book open on her lap while Wyatt was helping him cast the spells. Phoebe, Paige and his mom were up with the Book of Shadows trying to find something of use while Lily and James had gone to speak to Patience to try to calm her down. If anybody could convince her that James didn't hate her it was his own parents.

"Next, Wyatt." Chris told him.

"I'm exhausted." Wyatt groaned. "We're exhausted." Chris glared at him. "Alright, Chris. Next."

Chris held out the spell and together they chanted it trying to send James the power he might need to escape. They felt the spell try to link to him but then it crumbled apart leaving them to sit on the ground and scrub yet another spell from the list. "We're running out of spells." Hermione told them. "Even the ones designed with both magicks aren't any help."

"The problem is we can't counter the Rune based magic in the enchantment we set over the island." Chris told her.

"And even if he had the concentration to do it from the inside there's no way he could counter the sheer power of all of you." Hermione finished for him. "And without being able to get us in or him out we can't take it down."

Chris groaned and flopped back onto the grass. "It looks like he was right, Hermione." Chris told her. "You shouldn't have named him their godfather."

"Chris!" Wyatt gasped.

"What?" Chris asked. "I'm right aren't I? He knew there'd be no point. They'd never let him have them if it came to that and now it doesn't matter anymore anyway because we've failed him."

"Chris!" Wyatt snapped again and kicked him in the leg. Hard.

Chris yelled and shot up and spun to face Wyatt angrily. "What was that for?"

"Because you're being a prat." Wyatt said simply.

"You have no clue!" Chris shouted. "You're just being your usual self and James is rotting in some little square cell!"

"Chris, you're not the only one devastated by this and you have to get control of yourself..." Wyatt started but was silenced as his younger brother threw himself at him knocking them both to the ground. They rolled around for a few moments and both managed to get in a few hits before they felt a wave of force throw them away from each other and they found themselves hanging in mid air, facing each other. They both turned to Hermione who was carelessly aiming her wand at them both.

"Oh don't mind the pregnant woman." Hermione told them snidely. "You two just brawl in front of her." She paused for a moment before shrugging. "Actually you two are complete idiots. Wyatt, just keep your mouth shut and Chris, if I ever hear you sounding like you're giving up I'll shove this wand..."

"We get it!" Wyatt cried and raised his hands in surrender.

They were dropped to the ground. "Now come and help me up. I'm hungry and we need a break. It occurred to me while you were both rolling around in the dirt that there's a book that might be of some use in the school's restricted section." Hermione raised a hand for Chris to help her up. "We'll need Minerva's permission to access it though. I think it might involve blood rituals."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Azkaban**

James was silent as he stared down at his knees. He was kneeling in the centre of his cell with Shadow lying at his side. He'd just had another vision of Voldemort slaughtering a family and his limbs refused to answer to him and he couldn't stop his hands from trembling. They'd been doing that for a week now. Ever since Voldemort had told him they were approaching Halloween and his execution. Voldemort had even offered to rescue him from the execution in return for his oath of loyalty.

James of course had refused even though it had broken him to watch Voldemort kill a little kid in retaliation and there was no way Sirius could claim that hadn't happened. But now James had a plan and it was just about crazy enough to work. He knew his only way out of this place was to use his magic to take down the Wicca enchantments but while he could take down the Rune based parts at any time his Wicca powers weren't strong enough to tear down the rest. He had to get more magic and unknowingly Voldemort had given him the vital clue. He'd said the words just before the vision had ended. _'Soon all of your family will be dead.' _James remembered hearing Voldemort offer to bring his parents back before and that gave him the idea.

Sirius had been able to come here which meant ghosts could get through the wards and if he could summon somebody with enough Wicca power maybe it would work. He just hoped that Chris' family would listen to him because they were his only hope.

"I call forth through space and time, matriarchs of the Halliwell line. Mother's, daughters, sisters, friends, my husband's family spirit without end, to gather now in this cursed place and help me return to where I belong."

As soon as the last words were out of his mouth his cell seemed to glow with light and he scrambled out of the middle of the floor to hunch in the corner, shielding himself from the light. Eight figures appeared in the middle of his cell and looked around in search of him only to make him panic when a woman in her thirties made to move towards him.

"Made of steel this one." An old woman muttered.

"Mother!" The woman in her thirties reprimanded the other lady who simply shrugged. She knelt in the dirt in front of James and James looked up at her with dead eyes and a sickly face. He knew she was taking in his appearance, his dirty clothing and wasting form. "You're Harry Potter aren't you."

"Harry Potter's dead." James told her before scrambling to the side and away from her. He headed for Shadow but before he could get there the older lady stepped in his way and caught his shoulder. James cried out and pulled away from her and hid in another corner.

"Perhaps touching him isn't a good idea then."

"Mother, stop it."

"James." James said simply and flinched away as all eight sets of eyes turned to him. "James."

"Why did you summon us, James?" The woman in her thirties asked.

"You're Chris' family?" James asked desperately. "Please be real."

"We're real, sweetie." The woman told him.

"This might take a while." The older woman told the other six with a sigh.

"Please have magic." James said again in much the same tone, as if trying to work out his own plan's limitations as he went.

"What do you want from us, James?" She asked.

"I need you." James told her leaping forwards as if to touch her before he scrambled away again heading for where Shadow was watching them all. "Enchantments went up but won't come down. Chris' family's too strong for me."

"You need our help?" The woman asked gently heading over to him once again.

"Before he comes back again." James whispered and pointed at his head. "Need to get out and rebuild my defences before he comes looking for me."

"Pennie," The older woman sighed. "This is pointless. The boy is mad."

"Mom, he summoned us." 'Pennie' said. "He must have a plan."

At that James sat with his back to the wall and hugged his legs to him, rubbing once again at where his ring had been. "I need your magic." James whispered. "To break the enchantment. Then I can go."

"Take it, sweetie." Pennie said and turned to the others. "We'll need more if we're to counter all of them."

"You're actually going to try this?" The older woman asked.

"Mom, just go!" Pennie shouted. The older woman huffed but disappeared into the ceiling as orbs.

"Why don't you tell me the rest of your plan, James?" Pennie asked.

"No!" James scrambled away. "You'll tell them and they'll stop me!"

"Who will?" Pennie sounded tired.

"The Wizards." James shook his head before jerking his head around. "Where'd she go? No."

"She'll come back." Pennie promised. "With more help to power the spell."

"But she might tell." James told her before sobbing to himself almost silently, burying his head in his knees.

"I promise, James. We'll do everything we can to get you out and then you'll be back with my Grandson." Pennie promised him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Later**

"And what do you plan to do after you bring down the enchantment?" The old woman, Grams, asked him. James just stared at her. "You might have missed the fact you're sitting in a stone cell with no door."

"The door's there." James said pointing to where he knew the illusion hid the door.

"Now I know he's mad." Grams said to the woman, Pennie.

"Mom, if you can't say anything constructive just be quiet." Pennie told her.

"It could be an illusion I suppose." Grams admitted. "How does he know where though?"

"That's where the Dementors stop." James said simply and shuddered. "And then the screaming starts. I just have to go toward the screams." He grinned suddenly before shaking himself off like a cat.

"James, you have to try the spell now." Pennie told him. "It's already after midnight, they'll be here for you soon."

"I know." James laughed. "But maybe I shouldn't leave. I know Chris' personal rune. I could change his memories. Die here."

"And make it so he won't remember you?" Pennie asked before crouching in front of him. "Do you really want to do that to him? Steal away the one thing he cares for the most?"

James sobbed and hugged himself, rubbing at his bare finger once more. "You have to tell them not to come looking for me." James told them.

"Why not?" Grams asked.

"Too many Dementors chasing me. Too many bad memories. I might do something bad to them, might hurt them." James muttered before shaking his head. "I'll call Gemma. Gemma!" He yelled.

"That won't work until you take down the enchantments, James." Pennie told him gently.

"Oh yeah." James grinned. "You're like Piper."

"I know, sweetie." Pennie nodded. "Come on now, try the spell."

James hugged his knees to his chest and Pennie stood up. He forced himself to think of nothing but the spell he wanted to use. "Power of the Witches rise, Matriarchs of the eldest line, lend me your power so that I, holder of a Halliwell heart, may escape this place." He chanted it again before stretching his mind to the enchantment tearing at the part of the spell grounded in his own magic. He felt Wicca power flood his system and used the established link to counter the enchantment, slowly tearing it down.

He felt a shudder run through the island and smelt dust in the air as the island rocked as if in an Earthquake. A low alarm rang through the corridors as the prison's wards alerted the guards that someone had cast powerful magic.

"Now what?" Grams asked.

"Leave." James said simply and pushed himself up the wall before staggering. He lifted a hand and forced his magic to obey him. They'd blocked Shadow from him but not done anything about his actual powers but the prison was immune to Wizarding magic and he knew he couldn't concentrate on his own power of projection enough to do any damage but he could use other powers. He sketched a complex single Rune in the air and was satisfied when Wyatt's personal Rune flashed with a faint blue fire leeching from Wyatt's magic. James released the Rune's power directly at the door and watched with satisfaction as he heard iron bars shatter and fly out into the hallway.

James was through the door even as the illusion of the wall crumbled and vanished, leaving a small group of dead women in his cell before they vanished up into the air. James turned to run down the hall hoping to get as far away from his cell as he could before they tracked his spell.

"Gemma!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

Chris was sitting on the sofa with his older brother on his right and Joshua on his left. None of them could sleep and since the rest of the family had been out all day they were fast asleep. Wyatt had just lost another round of cards when he stood up to put on another round of hot drinks for the three of them. He was about half the way across the room when he fell to his knees with a surprised gasp. The effect was over in seconds but it left him shaky but he was over it even as Josh and Chris reached his side and helped him up.

"Something just used my magic." Wyatt sounded scared.

"Josh."

"I'm going." Josh ran off up the stairs to his dad's room and Chris heard him strike his own parents room and then Paige's door before he reached his father's room. Chris helped Wyatt back to the sofa but before they reached it Wyatt was walking on his own easily enough.

"That was strange." Wyatt mumbled before falling silent. Chris knew there was no point trying to work out what had happened until the others were down. It only took about thirty seconds anyway before the four adults and Josh were running back down the stairs in dressing gowns.

"What happened?" Piper asked as soon as she saw her two worried looking sons.

"Something used my magic." Wyatt told them. "It was odd, I felt something just slide right in and then drain a bit of my powers and then just disappear again."

"Chris, maybe you should check to make sure there's no physical damage?" Leo suggested. Chris held his hand over Wyatt's chest and it glowed silver for a moment before fading.

"Nothing." Chris told them.

"So what happened?" Paige asked in confusion.

"I think I could have fought it." Wyatt frowned. "Actually I'm sure I could have. I'm not sure I would have won but it was so fast I didn't have a chance to try."

A whole set of crashes alerted the group to the fact that the girls were rushing down the stairs and before Piper could yell up the stairs Patience, Prue and Anna ran into the room. "Dad!" Patience yelled and stopped at Coup's side. "Something..."

"Drained your powers?" Coup asked. She nodded. "Something just did it to Wyatt too."

"Why though?" Chris asked. "Who could..."

"Chris?" Leo asked when he didn't finish.

"James." Chris breathed out. "He could."

"How?" Paige asked.

"You remember those personal Runes he went on about when he was building the wards on the house?" Chris asked. "He told me that each one was specific to a person. Obviously he knows all of ours from when he was setting the magical exceptions to the wards."

"So you think he's using Rune magic to use our magic?" Wyatt asked dubiously. "But Chris, I know you want to think he's using them to escape but we've tried sending him our magic before and the enchantment blocks it."

"Maybe he's found a way around it?" Chris asked.

"Remember what his Godfather said about his mental state, Chris." Piper sighed. "Honey, I know you want to be right but how could he come up with a plan like that."

"He's stronger than you think." Chris told him. "Besides who else could be doing it?"

"It's happening again." Wyatt swallowed and straightened up in his seat. "I could fight..."

"No!" Chris grabbed his brother's arms. "Please, if it's him and you cut him off and he gets hurt...?

"Alright." Wyatt relaxed. "We better hope it is him."

"It is him." Chris nodded. "It has to be."

"Chris..." Leo started.

"No, Dad!" Chris stood up and rounded on his father. "We've not been able to do anything to help him. We've failed him so far. Can't you just hope that he's managed to help himself?"

"Chris is right." Paige nodded. "We have to hope that he's found a way out and that he's still got the mental control to think this out."

Before anything else could be said two trails of orbs filled the room but instead of Whitelighters like they expected two women appeared. "Grams? Mom?" Piper asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Being the messengers it seems." Grams replied with a roll of her eyes. "Hi guys." She said to the children in the room. "That kid you found, Chris, has some real spunk. I'll give him that at least."

"What happened?" Chris asked. "Are you talking about James?"

"He summoned us to him." Pennie smiled at them all. "The entire Halliwell Matriarch line in fact. So he could use our powers to bring down the enchantment."

"And then with the barrier down he could use our powers to help him escape." Chris couldn't keep the grin from his face.

"I think that's the general plan but it's kind of hard to make sense of anything that comes out of the boy's mouth." Grams said simply.

"Why don't we just summon him then?" Chris asked but before he could get a response a trail of bright golden orbs filtered into the room and a teary-eyed Gemma appeared before them before collapsing onto the sofa as Josh helped her down politely. "Gemma?"

Gemma looked at the two dead Matriarchs for a moment. "You told them what happened?" She asked.

"Up until summoning him out." Pennie frowned.

"James just called me to him. It was rather a big shock." Gemma placed a hand on her throat to keep herself calm. "He's off the island but he wanted me to come here and make you all promise not to do anything to try to find him or summon him."

"What!?" Chris shouted. "Why?"

"Because." Gemma paused. "He's worried that he'll hurt you without meaning to. He's not exactly stable right now."

"But we have to help him." Chris told her.

"I'm monitoring him all the time but we set up the spell again so I can't track him." Gemma sighed. "We could try summoning him against his wishes but it'll be difficult."

"Why did you hide him then?" Chris looked ready to shout at her some more but Wyatt placed a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Because in a matter of minutes the Ministry, Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters will be throwing every spell they can at him to try to find him." Gemma told them all. "It's like last time, only bigger."

"What happened last time exactly?" Piper asked.

"He escaped as Shadow and got to shore before he collapsed. Dementors found him there an hour later and he fled into the water where they couldn't follow him and he got pulled out to sea." Gemma explained. "He was found by a Container ship heading for Boston a few days later as a human and they fed him but really all they could do was lock him up in a room. He wasn't exactly stable after so long in Azkaban."

"Why wasn't he found?" Paige asked.

"While he was on the ship and moving like he was my own tracking spells were more than enough to hide him and no mortal authority could find him." Gemma explained. "When they reached shore he disappeared, turned into Shadow again and crossed the country until he couldn't go any further."

"And ended up in San Francisco." Chris sighed.

"I might have had something to do with him stopping though he didn't know it at the time." Gemma smiled. "We had to have him meet you and he had to start healing and doing what he loved was the best way to help him. That's why I pressed him into taking a chance and going to college."

"So what's he going to do?" Leo asked.

"Nobody knows." Gemma sighed. "I'd imagine he'll just go out in any direction and try to stay away from people, at least until he thinks he's safe enough to come to you."

"Should we leave here then? Go home?" Piper asked.

"Stay here for the time being." Gemma suggested. "He knows where this place is and it's close enough that he won't have to use magic to get here. Apart from my spells Shadow is his best protection right now. That's why he let me stay with him for more than a moment. To remove the Wizarding spells keeping Shadow from him."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Strathy Point – Two days later**

James forced his body to leap up the small ledge as he tried to find a small enough place to hide in for some much needed rest. It had been too long since he'd had any sleep but it had been hard to find a place where he'd remain hidden from the occasional fly over of both Wizards on brooms and even police helicopters. His nose smelt a badger den and regardless of the actual inhabitants he forced his was down into the den and after a brief yet pointless battle he scared of the old tenants and settled down for some much needed sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	26. The end of one Nightmare

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; Please read the message in bold at the top of my profile regarding updates. Please enjoy.

Chapter 26; The end to one Nightmare

**Hogwarts; The Den. Escape plus two days**

"Chris, you should be in bed." Wyatt told his younger brother as he walked into the middle of the common room. The room was lit only by the dying embers of the fire, not even moon light reached through the windows because it was a New Moon. Wyatt had been awoken almost an hour ago by Joshua because Felix had been crying out in his sleep and once woken had been too scared to fall back to sleep. Wyatt had sat with him until Felix had slowly drifted back off again. After that he'd come downstairs for something to drink and wasn't surprised that his brother was standing staring into the fire.

He was always either there or out on the balcony staring off at nothing in particular. Since James had escaped Chris hadn't even tried to sleep. Wyatt knew why that was though, so did most of the others as well. Chris didn't want to let down his guard if it meant the difference between James' escape and his capture. Wyatt was about a day away from casting a spell to send Chris to sleep but he didn't think that Chris would forgive for that.

Chris didn't answer him and Wyatt walked to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly to try to reassure him. "James will make it, Chris. He did this before and this time he's got more to fight for than the last time. He's got us to come home to. He's got you."

Chris raised his hand up to his lips and pressed his fist to his mouth and Wyatt knew that their family ring, the Promise Ring that Chris had given James, was clenched into his fist. It had barely been anywhere else ever since James had been caught.

"What if he dies, Wy?" Chris asked him.

"You can't think like that." Wyatt told him simply. "James is too tough to hurt like that."

"Oh god, Wyatt, what if he does something to himself?" Chris turned to him, desperation on his face. "What if we find him only for him to be suicidal? I can't lose him after all of this."

"I can't tell you that Azkaban can't make you suicidal, we've all seen that it can." Wyatt sighed. "But think of it this way, he wasn't suicidal when we met him and if he was now he wouldn't be trying to escape, he'd be trying to die."

"How do you know!?" Chris pleaded.

"Because Gemma would be able to sense it if he was in danger, even from himself." Wyatt pointed out. "And she can bring down his spell and be at his side in moments. And the scrying spell we cast two days ago that is tracking for him would lock on in an instant and we would all be there to stop him. It's not going to happen, Chris. You won't lose him and do you know why else I know that?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm your big brother and it's my job to make sure you don't get hurt. I won't let anything bad happen to him when I can stop it and I can stop him from hurting himself." Wyatt told him and gathered his little brother up in his arms letting Chris rest against him. "Now, I also have to make sure you're alright so you need to sleep, Chris."

"I can't." Chris told him. "I can't be asleep..."

"I know what you think, Chris." Wyatt told him. "But if you're exhausted you won't be able to protect him. So you're going to go upstairs and you're going to go to bed and you're going to sleep even if I have to cast a spell on you."

"But what if..." Chris started.

"If he appears then I'll be awake to help him and I'll wake you up. I promise." Wyatt told him. "I'm going to make myself a whole hell of a lot of coffee and sit here on watch. We'll do it that way, Chris. You sleep and I'll keep a watch. Deal?"

Chris studied him for a moment but then slowly nodded and turned towards the stairs and Wyatt headed for the kitchen knowing that Chris would do what he'd told him. Wyatt knew that Chris wouldn't sleep well but he'd at least wake up as less of a zombie.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**The next morning – Straffy Point**

James woke up as the sun rose, slightly heating the air coming down through the Badger den and he buried his head under his paws for a moment to clear his head. As Shadow he could exist as an animal, letting his instincts keep him working but the human half of his mind was in a constant state of almost panic and the only reason that he wasn't curled up defencelessly was because Shadow's mind had clamped down on anything that was purely James. Shadow was interested in only one thing and that was to reach safety and that was in two places as far as he was concerned. A house in San Francisco that was so heavily warded that he could hide there almost indefinitely or with his family in the most unlikely of places, Hogwarts.

He couldn't get to San Francisco until his human mind was clearer but he could travel to Hogwarts and that was what he was doing. The school would protect him, even from those inside and as soon as he was there Chris would take him away. Chris would protect him and would heal him. With that in mind he scrambled out of his hole and out onto the windswept cliffs of northern Scotland.

He turned towards the mountains and leapt into action, running through the heath land, sliding through the small sturdy shrubs, ignoring the state of his felt in favour of remaining hidden from the air. He ran until mid day, running inland so he could find a human town so he could get his bearings so that he could find his way from there to Hogsmeade. And only when it was noon did he pause at a mountain stream to lap up some water, ignoring its cold in favour of the life giving liquid.

He paused as his sensitive nose picked up something wrong in the area and the first thing he realised was a cold snap creep through his body but that was enough. His mind panicked and he leapt across the stream and turned in a full circle until he spotted it. A small black shape on the far hillside behind him was the first thing he saw but then he saw the closer one. A Dementor had found his scent and because it had seen him it had called to another one. James whined as if wounded and turned to run up the hills and the crags, running from the things that he knew would kill him as soon as they caught him. There would be no more Azkaban for him, only death and while a part of him thought that was a good thing he knew it would be the end for Chris and himself.

He shouldn't have stopped for a drink, he should have kept running and now that he had he couldn't shake the Dementors from his trail and with every hour he ran they grew in number, converging on a prey that they could almost taste and that they knew they could Kiss upon capture. James' instincts led him up the mountains and into the forests but they betrayed him slightly in that he couldn't hide in the trees like his form wanted him to because that wouldn't confuse the Dementors for even a second.

He led them on a chase for hours and the sun had set as he ran into a small valley town with empty streets. He ran through the paved roads completely silent but the Dementors were so close on his trail that he could feel the roads icing over under his paws and twice windows shattered as they froze over. James ran across a bridge noting that the water had frozen over with the number of Dementors and he could hear the sounds of people waking up at the sudden cold and darkness and lights flickered on only for the electricity to fail.

James skidded to a stop on the iced road as he came to a junction and spied the darkened figures of Dementor ahead of him and to his right. He turned to the south, the left but within seconds a Dementor had him by the back of his neck. Shocking cold ran down his back even as screams erupted through his head. Every person he had seen killed flashed through his mind including the recent deaths of his family, real or not, and watching from outside his home as his parent's were murdered.

"Please James, let me take you away from here." Chris' voice echoed dimly within his mind. Saying the very phrase that Chris had used when he'd tried to pull James away from watching Godric's Hollow attacked. It was quiet amongst all the screams but it meant so much to James. It was Chris' desire to protect him from all the pain. Light burst from James' panther form, blinding James completely and sending the Dementors away from him even as all of the ones within ten metres of him were destroyed, just like the one that had attack James and Chris outside of P3 had done. James' feelings for Chris had fuelled his personal rune, the one on his front left leg. The one that would both attack Dementors, shield him from them and cure those around him. The one that would fight fear and protect the ones he loved.

He yowled painfully as the light faded but left burning afterimages but his mind was clearer now and he knew what he needed. He needed Chris to help soothe his thoughts just as Chris had helped him soothe his nightmares just now but he couldn't just bring Gemma to him, it was too risky to drop the spells she'd used so he took off with renewed energy in the direction of Hogsmeade.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Hogwarts – The Den**

"Chris!" Matt yelled into the room as he appeared. "Mom!" He yelled as soon as he saw her on the sofa.

"Matt, what's the fuss?" Paige asked even as Chris came in from the balcony wondering what had riled him up so much.

Joshua ran in from the corridor out of breath carrying one of the Wizarding newspapers in his hand. He'd clearly been chasing Matt through the halls. "Josh?" Chris asked.

Josh waved at Matt as he collapsed on one of the chairs to catch his breath. "Mom, Chris!" Matt grabbed the newspaper from Josh and gave it to his mother. "It's James!"

Chris almost grabbed the paper but let his Aunt read it first watching as a frown set in before she glanced at Chris. "You're not reading this." She told him.

"Why not?" Chris demanded.

"Because its full of the Wizarding view of James and you'll lose it." Paige told him.

"Mom's right, Chris." Josh spoke up. "I read it but I didn't let the others. I just told them the gist. It's not pleasant."

"Then what's the gist?" Chris demanded ignoring the hard look from his Aunt.

"James was sighted in a small town east of here last night." Paige told him.

"Sighted?" Chris went pale and he shook slightly in fear. Matt latched onto his side and Chris forced a smile down at him and rested a hand over the small boy.

"My the local 'Muggles'." Paige explained. "According to this he was being chased by over a hundred Dementors. The witnesses saw him cornered by them but then there was a burst of light and a lot of the Dementors were destroyed. He was seen running off to the west."

"Destroyed?" Chris frowned.

"It says here he used the darkest of magic to destroy the Dementors." Paige frowned angrily.

"It sounds like his personal Rune. You know the one that saved him and healed me outside P3?" Chris suggested.

"Or it could be just a story to make James out to be a monster." Josh pointed out darkly.

"It's got too much detail about his Rune." Paige frowned. "This happened."

"We need everyone here." Chris announced. "He's heading this way."

It took about fifteen minutes to get everyone gathered and to explain the situation and no sooner had Paige finished letting Piper, Leo, Phoebe, Coup, Henry and even Wyatt read the newspaper article there was a knock at the door and a very upset looking Hermione walked in along with Minerva McGonagall.

"Hermione?" Chris asked.

"It's awful." Hermione managed out.

"We know, we've read it." Wyatt told her.

"Not that." Minerva told them. "The Ministry believes that James is on his way to Hogwarts and they've sent all of the Dementors they can spare to guard the school."

"Can't he just zap them too?" Prue asked.

"I hope so." Chris muttered.

"Dumbledore is convinced that the school's wards will hold him at bay. He's tuned them exactly against James' magical signature." Hermione explained.

"But didn't he think that the last time?" Patience asked, speaking up for the first time when they discussed James.

"It's true." Minerva nodded. "There's a chance that the school will allow him through regardless but if we're wrong he could get trapped between the Dementors and the Wards."

A trail of light exploded into the middle of the room and Hermione and Minerva almost drew their wands on it before Gemma appeared. "Gemma, do you know about all of this?" Chris asked.

"About his run in last night?" Gemma asked. "As soon as I sensed the use of his magic I went there but I was too late to follow him and he hasn't dropped the spell yet."

"Should we bring it down now and go get him?" Chris asked, needing to get to James as soon as he could just so he could feel him in his arms. Prove to himself that James was okay.

"It would take the Ministry and Death Eaters about three seconds to trace him if we do that." She told him. "We'll have to wait for him to come here and then take him somewhere safe."

"Gemma, what is it?" Piper asked when she looked worried but didn't continue speaking.

"The Elders have seen a battle between the Death Eaters and the Wizards here." Gemma told them.

"Good." Chris hissed.

"Chris, they're mostly children." Hermione reprimanded him gently.

"Voldemort and his Demons have sensed the magic of the wards is focused away from them and onto James and are taking the opportunity." Gemma told them. "And I think they want to strike at the school and you before James is reunited with you. Kill you, any of you, and James will lose the ability to defend himself."

"She's right." Chris sighed. "If any of us were hurt, James would either simply break apart or he'll lose it and wipe out everything that ever caused him pain."

"Well whatever we're going to do about it must happen soon." Gemma told them. "The Elders have sent someone to warn Dumbledore. Voldemort will attack before the day's out."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

James shot awake from his short nap and he hit the ground running as the afterimage of his premonition faded from his eyes. He rarely had them because Chris was such a stronger Seer than he was and got them in his place but alone like he was James was more attuned to them and seeing Hogwarts and his family under attack from demons and Wizards was enough to give James all the energy he needed to get to the school and to concentrate on only one thing, killing Voldemort, the Death Eaters and the Demons attacking the school.

It took him two hours to reach the school and the thought did go through his mind that he could end the fight by simply removing the spell that hid him. It would draw Voldemort to him and away from the school but he'd be sacrificing himself and he didn't want to put Chris through that. He didn't care about dying but it was hurting Chris that gave him pause for thought.

He had a bit of trouble getting past the Dementors that filled Hogsmeade and the space between the school and the town but the Dementors, fighting for the Ministry, were distracted by the Death Eaters which they could Kiss to their leisure and although James struggled to keep himself sane as he brushed past them his entire being was focused on the school and the sounds he could hear from within it. There was fighting out on the grounds between Death Eaters and their Demon allies against newly arrived Aurors that were veritably flooding the place with everything they could and James had trouble getting through without being seen though he probably had been spotted and just ignored in the heat of the battle.

The doors to the school had been knocked in and were snapped clean through and half hung off their hinges and James could smell burning from within even over the smell of burnt grass from outside. He slunk inside and focused his every sense on picking up the scents of his family. It didn't matter which member of the family it was, just any of them.

As he moved up towards the Den he finally picked up a set of scents on the third floor stairwell. There were a lot of weaker scents but over the top was an entire flood of scents that were all of his family. They'd all come up here and turned towards the Den but as he followed them out onto the fifth floor where the Den was the scents were mixed with different scents that appeared out of nowhere and his eyes told him that they'd been ambushed by Demons. Dozens of them had appeared in the cross of two corridors and by the scorch marks leading down the corridor towards the Den they'd been pushed back along the corridor.

But his smell told him something else. Not all of his family had stayed together. Two scents, Felix and Ashley, had gone down a different corridor and they'd been followed by two Demons. Felix could slow down time slightly for himself and could shove himself and Ashley away from attacks and Ashley could very weakly astroproject or manipulate matter like Piper and Wyatt but nowhere near enough to hurt a demon. The two would be in serious danger if they didn't find help and if panicked then Felix couldn't transport away and even if he could he couldn't take Ashley with him with his glowing thing that he got from his father. Ashley could orb across a room when she was in danger but again she couldn't go far nor take a passenger.

James was following them even as he found out where they'd gone and he ran as fast as was safe within a place where Demons could appear out of nowhere and he half hoped that the two had called for Wyatt, Chris, Paige or Coup for help or even to Josh, Prue or Patience but that relied on the fact that they could hear them in the noise of battle or even get away from the dozen demons that had followed them.

The trail led up the north tower and James covered the steps quickly turning dizzily as he caught up with the demons and the two children on the roof. His eyes took in the scene regardless of the darkness. Ashley was clinging to Felix and her panicked emotions probably weren't helping Felix remain calm as two Demons mocked them from the middle of the room, holding fireballs in their hands.

"What do you think?" One asked the other. "Roast them slowly or simply chuck them over the edge?"

The other laughed and Ashley whimpered in fright. James knew that they were very strong willed for children and they'd all faced Demons before but not like this, not with their family distracted and in a place like Hogwarts.

James finally retook his own form and his strength half vanished from him as his emotions took on a life of their own but he forced himself to concentrate on saving Felix and Ashley. He saw Felix gasp and grab Ashley tightly, hugging her so she couldn't see what was happening. He'd clearly sensed James now that he was human standing in the shadows of the doorway down into the tower.

James didn't pause to let the demons notice him and shut his eyes and concentrated all of his Power of Projection. Magic whipped up around the roof top spiralling around the two demons who turned in surprise but were too slow as James lashed out at them and obliterated them. He stepped forwards as the air stilled and Felix and Ashley looked up at him. Felix in relief and Ashley in fear until she recognised his drawn out features and half dead appearance. James couldn't bring himself to say anything but he saw Felix wince and rub at his head and James knew how much pain he was causing just by being human around him. He flowed seamlessly back onto all fours as he took back the form of Shadow who, though smaller and weaker looking, was still better to look at than James' human appearance.

He moved over to them and pressed his head between the two in greeting before turning ready to hunt down the rest of the family. He paused to make sure they followed him and Ashley grabbed the felt at the back of his neck and apart from giving her comfort it allowed James to lead them through the dark corridors.

As soon as they were in the corridors below Felix placed a hand on his back as well and James moved a little faster now that he didn't have to worry about them wandering off into the school alone. It was about half way towards the Den that James' sense of smell detected a difference. His family had met up with Wizards, including Dumbledore, Minerva and Weasley and about six others but also on their tail had been numerous other Wizards including Voldemort and to make things worse his heightened senses could detect the air inside the school chilling. The Dementors had reached the inside.

James quickened his pace and they arrived at the blown apart entrance to the Den and it took a moment to realise that they weren't fighting but Voldemort was speaking. James led the two inside not wanting them to be outside alone if there were any more demons about but nudged them away from him as soon as they could see the inside.

The walls and windows that led out onto the balcony were gone and most of the people were out there. His family were against the banister with Piper, Paige, Phoebe, Coup, Josh, Patience, Wyatt and Chris shielding the rest of the family. Basically any of them that could defend themselves and most of the younger children were looking petrified. Standing with the older members of the family were three Aurors including Weasley as well as Dumbledore and Minerva.

Between James and them were more Demons and Death Eaters than he could count with Voldemort in front of them. Voldemort had distracted them and now he'd gotten them into a position where they couldn't run. Chris, Wyatt and Paige could probably orb them all away but Chris had already proven that while not fatal, getting hit by the Killing Curse as orbs was still enough to knock you out and that would be fatal in this situation.

James nudged the two children again and Felix half pulled Ashley up to the stairs that led up to the adults' rooms and to relative safety and only when James had seen them to that safety did he turn his attention back on Voldemort.

"I find this amusing, Dumbledore." Voldemort grinned. "You put so much effort into the Potter brat and look what's happened. Do you even know what he's doing for me?"

"Liar!" Chris snarled angrily.

"Where is he?" Dumbledore asked. "Why is he not here?"

"I'm afraid a certain amount of recuperation was required after we rescued him from Azkaban." Voldemort sneered.

"There's no way you could have gotten in there." Piper snapped. "It was impenetrable. We made sure of it. Not even we could have gotten in there after our spells."

"You are not a Dark Lord." Voldemort sneered arrogantly.

James pushed away from the ground and melted back into his human body but made sure to make not even the smallest of sounds. He even lightened his breathing so that it was a mere few breaths to keep him conscious as he brought up his hands and began casting Runes, moving half on instinct alone as he searched his memory for over a year's worth of Runic magic and formed a complex rune targeted at anyone in the room without Wicca magic. There wasn't much he could do about Dumbledore, Weasley and the Aurors and he didn't much care but he was sorry about what this would do to Minerva. It wouldn't be pleasant.

It took him what felt like an eternity to form the Runic sequence and just as he was about to activate it somebody saw him. It was Weasley who had finally dragged his eyes away from Voldemort to look around the room, trying to find some way to overcome the overwhelming forces in the room. He gasped as he saw James' rather emancipated form and like the idiot he was he didn't see what was truly happening and only what he thought he knew.

"I knew it!" Weasley hissed glaring at James making Voldemort snap his head around before warring emotions spread across his face. He'd been pretending that James was helping him but although this might look bad for James all it would take was a few comments and the ruse would be over.

"Seize him." Voldemort hissed obviously deciding that trying to pretend any longer was out of the question. Before James could react half a dozen demons shimmered across the room and even thought James tried to dodge there was little he could do against them and found himself almost lifted off the ground by two of the largest demons he'd ever seen as they gripped his arms.

"Let him go!" Chris was almost beside himself and James looked so weak between the two, barely able to fight them, that he almost leapt forward and probably would have if Wyatt, Leo and Coup didn't all grab him and restrain him.

Seeing Chris in such mental pain only caused James' eyes to deaden far beyond what they were used to. In reality James' mind was overjoyed to see all those emotions on Chris' face and to see them all when not a few days ago he'd thought they were all being murdered one after the other by Voldemort. James just couldn't express those emotions again but by the winces from Phoebe, Coup, Anna, Jason, Pennie and Matt they knew some of what was going through his mind and couldn't stand it. They, as well as Felix were the family's telepaths and emotion readers.

"It is a shame that the ruse is over." Voldemort sighed dramatically. "It was so fun for me to watch my enemy turn so completely against their only hope and to think what you've done to him. I could never have caused him so much damage. Of course I perhaps helped in his mental destruction but I am truly amazed that he was able to hide his insanity from you for so long."

"He's not insane!" Chris spat at Voldemort.

"Really?" Voldemort laughed. "Have you been inside his mind since he was sent back to Azkaban? I have and he is truly a mess. I spent years of effort trying to break the great Harry Potter and in the end it was you that broke him, Dumbledore. Look at your golden boy and see what you've caused."

James couldn't help it, he went completely and utterly still as Dumbledore gazed at him and he looked to be almost twice the age he usually looked. James stared at him with eyes that he knew reminded Dumbledore of Lily Evans and slowly his lips twitched into a smirk that he couldn't contain. He took pleasure from the pain so obvious on Dumbledore's face and before he could stop himself he started laughing. He barely noticed when his family blanched in shock at his attitude and the horror spread across Dumbledore's face was priceless.

"Perhaps I shouldn't merely kill you." Voldemort spoke to James making him stop laughing and look at him. "Perhaps now you'll join me?"

"He'll never join you!" Chris snarled making Voldemort lash out at him with magic. Wyatt shielded them but the sheer force of the attack of magic sent both young men backwards into Leo and Henry who caught them.

James struggled against his captors and they released him when Voldemort gestured to them. He clearly thought that James wasn't a threat in his current state. James took his own weight back onto his legs and slowly walked towards Voldemort who fingered his wand. "Voldemort." James spoke for the first time since he'd arrived and his voice was barely there, little more than a croak that by some miracle could be heard in the deadly silent room. "You make it sound like I've only got the choice between you and _them_." James pointed out. "I'd never cause my family harm."

Voldemort sneered and made to raise his wand but James was faster. He funnelled almost everything he had into the runic sequence which reappeared around him spinning rapidly before it burst out in all directions. Striking everyone in the room. It searched out Wiccan magic and didn't affect those that had it but everyone else staggered and collapsed to their knees, their bodies weakening until they were all lying on the ground, attempting to regain enough energy to raise their wands.

James laughed cruelly and crouched down at Voldemort's side, meeting his red eyes with a level gaze. "You don't know this, Voldemort, but when you're pet demon sent those Death Eaters back in time, Chris and I went after them and we killed all of them including the Malfoys. But you see I went after you on Halloween of 1981 when you went after me the first time. And do you know what I discovered? It wasn't my mother that saved me, it was me."

His family listened in to his weak voice and James glanced up at them as his eyes flashed white. "Your spell couldn't kill the younger me when I was there to aid him. But I had to watch from a distance as you murdered my father and then my mother. I chose to return to this world, to accept all of the pain when I could have killed you then." James whispered though it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "At least now I know I was right. If I'd changed anything I would have my parents back but then I'd be stuck with these hypocritical bastards that threw me away as soon as your little ploy went into action. I don't know what new way you came up with to plant those memories in her, maybe you just used polyjuice to appear to be me while you tortured her. I don't really care and it seems neither did they. The point is that the Wicca witches are more like me then the Wizards ever will be and I'd go through a thousand hells like I just have been through if it keeps them safe. I'd burn down the Wizarding world a hundred times for that matter."

"I'd keep you alive just to torment the Wizards." James continued. "But you'll never admit defeat and you'll keep hunting me until you can claim me as a kill or try to break me to become your weapon and I don't really care except that you're not above hurting the people I love to do that and I'd die a thousand deaths before I let you harm any one of them. This is going to be rather painful for you, Voldemort."

Voldemort managed to frown at James as the weak man placed a hand on his chest letting his white eyes meet his own red ones as James focused only on the white structure in this scape that represented Voldemort and he began focusing his Powers of Projection onto that life. Draining it from the body and casting it out, watching as it faded slowly from his body as Voldemort struggled weakly under his hand until the red eyes faded to the look of a dead man.

James straightened up and glanced at his family and saw Chris was staring at him perfectly still while Wyatt held onto his arm rather pointlessly now. James turned and walked slowly and painfully to where Dumbledore was slumped with his head propped up on the wall near to his family and he looked down at him as his eyes finally changed back as James looked at him with his normal eyes. "I happen to know that if I was anything like you I'd probably force you to announce that I'm innocent but I'm not you and I know how you work. You and your precious Ministry would be destroyed if the truth came out so you're going to continue to claim that I'm evil. You'll probably even fake some story about how the great Dumbledore, or even the great Ronald Weasley, killed Voldemort. You might even claim that I was killed and then hope that I don't appear again and claim otherwise."

"Let me help you out." James continued, enjoying the shocked silence that allowed his rather crazed mind to rant fluidly. "I don't care what you claim but if you ever even think of trying to find me I'll lash out back at you and you won't even know what's happening until it's over."

James ignored Dumbledore and turned to Minerva. "I'm sorry about this, Minerva. But I didn't have the time to place an immunity for you. Every person in this school that doesn't have Wiccan magic is just like this but it'll wear off in about an hour. Quicker if you don't use up more energy trying to fight it."

Minerva managed to blink in response and James almost touched her on the shoulder with shaky hands but drew his hand back and clutched it to his chest at the last minute when he felt a cold shiver and he knew that his spell hadn't effected the Dementors and they'd be here within a few minutes. A shiver ran up his body and he whimpered as he turned his back on the door and backed away.

"What is it, James?" Piper asked him moving to his side rapidly though she didn't touch him. Chris appeared at his other side and his hand reached out and only didn't touch him by a few millimetres.

"Dementors." James whispered as his adrenaline wore off.

"We have to find Felix and Ashley." Wyatt announced.

"We're here!" Felix yelled as he pulled Ashley back down the stairs. "James found us."

James whimpered again and he collapsed both internally and externally and simply folded down to the ground only not hitting it when Piper and Chris caught him. "Get him out of here." He heard Coup tell them and his world exploded into bright lights that brought warmth to him as he was taken across the surface of the Earth and to the safety of the Halliwell Manor.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

Chris orbed into the Manor leaving James for the first time in Chris' apartment though after the last few days Chris wasn't worried about him hurting himself. He'd taken a day to come out of his shell and talk to him and Chris had spent the last hour merely holding him and soothing his wounded boyfriend but they were making progress.

"Chris?" Piper asked as she stopped him and held his arms. "How is he?"

"He's getting better." Chris told his mother, father and two younger sisters. "I woke up this morning though and he was curled up in the corner talking to himself. I think he had a nightmare."

"I'd imagine he won't like any dark place right now." Leo sighed and hugged his youngest son briefly. "He's alright on his own?"

Chris nodded. "He said I should come and let you know he's alright."

"You should have brought him with you." Piper told him glancing at Prue and Anna who both nodded.

"He..." Chris winced. "He doesn't want to hurt anyone if he loses control."

Piper winced but shook her head. "We know he'd never do that."

"But this morning three of the windows in my room were shattered and he thinks it was him losing control of his magic." Chris sighed.

"Was it?" Leo asked.

"I think so." Chris nodded. "I know he'd never hurt any of us and I wasn't hurt but he's scared about the possibility. You remember when we first saw him, when he lost control when that red-headed guy appeared. He just closes off to the rest of the world and after seeing Azkaban we know why."

"Well everyone wants to see him again, you let him know that?" Piper told him.

"He said Saturday." Chris told her. "I think he's forcing himself but he knows he'll back out if he can so can you get everyone together here for dinner. That way he can't back out without thinking he's offending anyone."

"That's a little devious." Leo pointed out.

"It's his idea." Chris told him. "He doesn't like where he is now. He doesn't like feeling screwed up."

"He's not..." Piper started.

"Honestly mom." Chris interrupted her. "He is. Even I'll admit that and unless we all do we can't help him."

"Did you give him back the ring?" Leo asked him.

Chris grinned. "I think it made the most difference. He hasn't stopped fiddling with it since and keeps taking it off just to hold it."

"It symbolises that someone loves him." Piper smiled at him.

"I'd better get going. I need to go get some food and stuff for the apartment and then get back to him." Chris told her.

"Take some stuff out of our fridge." Piper told him and before Chris could even agree she was pulling out food and bagging it all up. Chris laughed and moved to his sisters, kissing them both on the cheek and giving them hugs.

"If he's worried about hurting us I could always astral-project." Anna suggested. "He can't hurt me like that."

"That's sweet, Anna, but I don't know if I want him thinking there's any other way of seeing you all." Chris told her fondly. "He's got to come out of it and if we give him a way of compromising he won't try. He really misses you all though and he'll see you on Saturday."

Chris accepted the bag from his mother and hugged her before his father walked him out into the hallway. "It's amazing how quickly James became a part of this family." Leo told him. "That speaks more for him than anything else. He's won the hearts of all of the children and they really miss him."

"He wanted me to ask after them all. Patience and Felix especially." Chris told him sadly.

"Patience is okay, she's getting over what she did whether she chose it or not. But seeing how James was when he got out of Azkaban didn't help." Leo sighed. "I'll tell Phoebe that he's doing better and that'll help."

"And Felix?" Chris pressed.

"Phoebe's a little more worried about him but Coup is helping as much as she can but Felix was only recovering because of James' help and we can't just send him to a normal doctor." Leo sighed. "He needs James to help him deal with the desires he felt and of course he felt them from James again and they were so much more real that time."

"Do you think I should tell him that?" Chris frowned.

"I think you're going to have to." Leo sighed before nodding resolutely. "Keeping things from him won't help." Chris nodded and hugged his father before orbing away and back to his own apartment.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Chris reappeared in the middle of the living room to his small apartment and looked around for James finding him in the kitchenette area struggling to open a new jar of coffee with hands that hadn't stopped shaking in days. He cursed almost too softly to hear and Chris felt magic in the air as James' frustration almost shattered the jar. With quick soothing breaths James calmed himself and put the jar down on the table and merely stared at his as he leaned on the counter with his arms.

He had clearly had a shower and had only pulled on a pair of jeans and his hair was wild. Chris moved into James' line of sight making him jump slightly before relaxing and looking at Chris with his faded emerald green eyes that showed no emotion. It pained Chris to not know what James was feeling but he knew James' heart was pure and good and if he had to wait for James' internal emotions to start to show again on his face then he'd merely do exactly that. Wait. He moved behind James and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his lover's torso shocking himself once again by how skinny James had become. How quickly he'd deteriorated within the prison.

James still shook slight at Chris' touch but he was getting used to it and he turned in Chris' arms and buried himself into his front, burying his head under his chin and sliding his hands up under Chris' t-shirt to feel the warm of his skin. James had been almost constantly attached to some part of Chris' skin since they'd come back and Chris wasn't surprised that James needed to feel that Chris was alive.

"I can't open it." James told him softly.

"You want me to?" Chris asked.

James shook his head. "I want to do it."

"Alright." Chris nodded. "I didn't need to go to the shop in the end. Mom gave me a bag of stuff."

"What did she say?" James asked.

"She said that they all miss you and whenever you want to see them is fine with them." Chris paraphrased. "She'll sort something out for Saturday too."

"Felix and Patience?" James asked.

"Patience is okay, she just had a little set back after seeing you again." Chris told him. "Once she sees you're alright she'll get over it."

"And Felix?" James asked and when Chris didn't immediately answer he pulled away slightly to look up but didn't take his hands off of Chris' stomach.

"He felt your desires again after you got out and it's set him back a bit." Chris admitted with a winch. "Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coup are trying to help him but they can't help him like you were doing and we don't know who we could send him to."

"I need to be there for him." James winced. "But I could..."

"They understand." Chris soothed him and brought him close again.

"I need to know what's happening to him. I have to know if I've got the time to be sitting here uselessly." James told him and pulled away again.

"This isn't useless." Chris told him. "Looking after yourself isn't useless, James."

"But Felix..." James almost sobbed. "I..."

"How about we bring Coup here?" Chris tried. "Just one person. He can tell you all about how Felix is reacting and then you can decide whether it can wait until Saturday or not."

James turned away from Chris but grabbed his hands and wrapped Chris' arms around himself almost like he was hugging himself. Chris tightened his grip against James' tiny frame and rested his head on James' shoulder and merely waited knowing that James was assessing the dangers and knew what he'd do. The small chance of him hurting Coup was nothing compared to the danger that Felix was in.

"Call Coup." James told him eventually. "I have to know."

Chris sighed and called out to his Uncle knowing that by calling Coup he'd come alone. A glow appeared in the centre of the room and Coup appeared almost ten seconds after they'd called him.

"Chris." Coup said in way of greeting and then smiled happily at James. "James, it's so good to see you up and about."

James kept himself firmly in Chris' arms and stopped Chris from letting him go when Chris tried. It was obvious to Chris and Coup what James was doing and Coup could sense his desire to have Chris restrain him so he couldn't hurt anyone.

James tried to speak but couldn't manage it with Coup there so Chris spoke up instead. "James wants to know about Felix."

"He's okay, James." Coup told him.

James shook his head and managed to speak. "Don't cover it. I need to know how he's reacting so I know if I have to come help him."

"You need to think about yourself first." Coup told him.

"No." James shook his head. "Felix might need me."

"Just tell him, Uncle Coup." Chris nodded to him.

"Okay." Coup sighed. "For starters he hasn't let go of either myself, Phoebe, Paige, Henry or Joshua and Joshua is having to stay with us so that Felix can sleep next to him or he just panics."

"He's seeking protection." Chris spoke up but James shook his head slightly. "Not just that?"

"He's also staying with people that can stop him." James muttered weakly. "He's scared about what he'll do if he's alone."

Coup nodded. "Phoebe and I thought that might be the case so we haven't left him alone."

"You can't mean he would..." Chris started.

"That's what I need to know." James muttered, slowly gaining courage around Coup. "Does he talk?"

"Not much." Coup sighed. "He'll say a few words now and then but only out of courtesy and he'll always answer us if we talk to him. We know Josh has talked to him about these desires when they're alone but he doesn't seem capable of talking to us about them and we didn't want to push them." Coup continued talking for about ten minutes and James just watched him and took everything in and finally Coup stopped and sat on the back of the sofa.

James hung his head to look at his boyfriend's arms across his bare chest and merely thought for a while before looking up at Coup. "He's scared of upsetting any of you and being abandoned. That's why he's answering you and he wants help which is why he's going to Joshua but it's my fault that he's not talking to you about it. I told him that the first stage is talking to a friend, someone like me and then onto Joshua. Without me around he's turned to Joshua."

"What do we do?" Coup asked.

"I don't want to hurt him." James mumbled but they both heard him. "If he does anything that scares you or if he has a particularly bad turn then bring him here but I don't think he's in any danger." James bit his lip for a moment. "Just let him be with whoever he wants to be with."

"He's asked about you." Coup told him.

"Tell him that I want to be sure I won't hurt him and then I'll come see him." James told him. "But tell him that if he's really scared he's to have you bring him to me."

"What about your..." Coupe winced and James studied him for a moment.

"Uncle Coup?" Chris frowned. "What...?"

"He means my own desires." James told Chris and felt Chris tighten his arms around him. "They won't be a threat to anyone. You can't feel them right?"

Coup shook his head. "But you shouldn't deal with them yourself."

"When I want to deal with them I'll talk to Chris." James muttered and Chris kissed him on the back of the neck in acceptance of his request.

"Thank you, James." Coup told him. "We know how much you are dealing with and the fact you are more concerned about us means everything. Everyone misses you though."

"We're going to come to dinner on Saturday at the Manor." Chris told him and James nodded almost to himself.

"I'll let everyone know." Coup smiled and glowed red as he disappeared.

James turned and buried himself in Chris' chest again and eventually Chris laid them down on the sofa and switched the TV on and stripped his shirt and jeans off as James took off his own jeans showing that he hadn't put on anything but those. Chris pulled off his own boxers and laid down so James could lay on top of him and then pulled a blanket over them both, letting James merely rest with him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Friday night**

James was startled awake by noises in the other room and for a moment he thought he was back in Azkaban with Dementors outside his door. Before he could stop himself he was in the corner of the room but he managed to stop himself from sliding down the wall as he saw light coming from his doorway and felt the warmth of the apartment well above normal at the moment with Chris' attempts to make it as least like the prison cell as possible. That was also what the dull fairy lights were doing around the ceiling as well.

James caught his breath and calmed himself down before looking up at the doorway as somebody blocked the light. He flinched slightly before recognising Chris and relaxing. "Light, Chris." James pleaded and Chris flipped on the light before walking into the room and letting James fold himself into his arms until his shaking subsided. "I just flipped out when I heard voices outside the room and it was dark and..."

"Shhh, babe. I know." Chris told him. "I should have woken you up before I left."

"What's the matter? Who were you talking to?" James asked.

"Uncle Coup brought Felix here. He had a panic attack just now and ran away when Josh tried to calm him down. They found him hiding on the attic window sill." Chris paused. "At the Manor."

"Not at Cromwell Drive?" James asked referring to Phoebe and Coup's house about a mile from the Halliwell Manor.

"Uncle Coup doesn't think he teleported there." Chris winced. "Probably ran."

James stepped away from Chris and pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and was in the other room within a few minutes of waking up. The light was on as he'd known and Coup was sitting in the armchair with a crying Felix in his lap. The fifteen year old looked so small and scared you could imagine that he was much younger but James knew the effect these sort of desires had on a person. He'd seen fully grown men in Azkaban reverted into their childhood and curled up into a ball in the corner. James had almost been there a few times but he'd never had the luxury of losing his mind completely. He'd experienced and remembered it all.

James crouched in front of Coup who looked at him desperately. "I won't rest until Felix is just like he was before." James whispered so that Felix couldn't hear the words yet he still heard James' voice and looked up at him and almost threw himself at him, sending James to the ground with Felix in his lap. James looked up at Coup even as he held onto the boy who was only about a foot shorter than he was. James and Coup both knew that his words were hopeful. Both hoped they were possible but both knew that Felix might possibly forever hold the scar of that visit to Azkaban. James just hoped he could reduce the scar to where it didn't affect his life like it was now and since they weren't truly his emotions James held hope that it was possible that Felix would only ever be effected in the worst possible scenarios.

Coup and Chris left the apartment for the house on Cromwell Drive for the night and James merely sat on the sofa facing Felix who was curled up under a blanket with an almost constant supply of hot chocolate and James just let Felix talk knowing that the things the boy was saying could never be said to anybody but James. Somebody who could really understand what he was feeling and know how to deal with them. By the end of five hours the sun had risen and James was convinced that, apart from a few episodes like this where the desires were triggered by a nightmare or a bad situation, Felix would start recovering.

They moved on from that to talking about James' re-emergence into the family and Felix ended up trying to convince James that he wouldn't be out of place and that nothing had changed during the three weeks that James had been in Azkaban and that all of his cousins as well as his brother and sister couldn't wait to see him again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

End Chapter


	27. A New Life

A New Life in San Francisco

A/N; I can't believe this story is over! But it's been three years since I started this story. I just shocked myself with that, I hadn't realised it had been that long but I've enjoyed writing this story and although my writing style has changed a lot over those three years I hope you all still like this story. I don't have any plans for a sequel for this story and the only epilogue is really the last part of this chapter. I hope you all like and leave me nice reviews.

Chapter 27; A New Life

**Saturday morning**

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" James asked as his nibbled at his fingertips even as he paced the bedroom as Chris changed clothes. James was wearing a baggy pair of black jeans and a blue button down shirt as well as one of Chris' heavy jackets that completely swamped him. Chris had returned in the early hours of the morning and taken Felix home for the morning so that James could get used to the idea of going to see everyone again but he was seriously starting to have doubts about whether it was wise or not.

"Don't you want to see them?" Chris asked trying to hide a smile.

"Don't try it, Chris." James sighed out. "You know I do and that won't convince me to put them..."

"You won't be." Chris told him as he settled on a tight white t-shirt. "You spent the whole night alone with Felix and nothing bad happened."

"Maybe I'm not ready." James shook his head.

Chris sighed and walked towards him before moving around him and sitting down in one of the two nice chairs in the bedroom. He pulled James down into his lap and was surprised again but James' weight. James had always been very skinny and he knew now how Azkaban could permanently wreck you like that but this version of James surprised him every time. He was a stick and he was weak, weighing only a little more than seven stone and James had told him that the only reason he even had that weight on him was because as a Panther Animagus some of his muscles simply wouldn't allow themselves to be weakened. He probably weighed less than most of his cousins and sisters and that was a scary thought.

"James." Chris kissed the side of his neck. "Next week you want to go back to work and Paige really needs you. I mean almost a third of the children you helped out of that orphanage were just attacked by Death Eaters and their new home almost completely burned to the ground. Paige says they all think it was the Warden trying to kill them all. The point is you need to help them, only you really can at the moment and they need you. If you don't care about what _you_ need then at least care about what those children need. You need to be around other people this weekend so you can get used to it before you go meet all of your children again."

James sighed and pressed his face into Chris' neck. "You're a git when you want to be." James told him with a sigh even as Chris hugged him tighter. "Well, we're not orbing all the way there. I'm not appearing in the middle of your mom's living room."

Chris chuckled and stood up, lifting James with him and setting him on the ground. "You ready to go then?"

"No?" James tried but Chris just poked him in the side. "Garden, Chris. Promise me."

"You know I'd never do otherwise." Chris smiled before hugging him tightly, resting his chin on James' hair before the two burst into a cloud of orbs and streamed out of the window before vanishing completely.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor**

James looked around as soon as the scene around him turned from the bright light of orbs to the garden of the Manor lit by the autumn sun. Chris' dad loved this garden and he worked on it quite a bit and it was full of colour even now. James sighed as he took it in before tensing up in Chris' arms as he heard laughing from inside.

"Were you hoping they'd all be late and arrive at different times?" Chris asked even as he kept hold of James around his waist even as James slowly turned around in his arms to look at the house. He felt James playing with his fingers and a moment later start nibbling on something gently with his teeth. The Promise Ring. James did that whenever he was nervous or thinking about something painful. "You're going to nibble that down to nothing if you're not careful." Chris warned him playfully.

"Warded it." James mumbled. "Runes."

Chris actually laughed. It was just like James to think like that, about the future of something like a ring but then again to James that ring was almost as important to him as Chris himself was. It was the constant reminder of Chris' love for him.

"You ready to go on in?" Chris whispered into his ear.

"How about we just wait out here for a while?" James suggested. "It's nice out here and everything."

"If that's what you _really_ want." Chris told him and felt James sag against him ever so slightly in defeat.

"At the first sign..." James started but trailed off when Chris tightened his grip ever so slightly.

"I know, I'll orb you out." Chris promised before rubbing his cheek against the side of James' head to make him turn to look back over his shoulder. Chris moved in and kissed him deeply, really feeling all of the emotion in the kiss before pulling away slowly and pecking him on the corner of the mouth, seeing the emotion in James' eyes which had only just started to reappear lately. "I love you so much, James."

James almost cried and he turned and hid his face in Chris' chest. "Love you too." He mumbled and Chris kissed his cheek which was the closest place he could reach to show that he'd heard.

"Let's go." Chris prompted and James nodded and pulled away although he caught Chris' right hand in his own left and almost walked behind his boyfriend, almost shielding himself from the family members he knew were waiting inside, here just to see him and welcome him back.

They walked through the laundry room and into the kitchen and James was confronted by the first of seventeen that he missed. Chris' mom, Piper, was standing with her back to them slicing French bread into slices and putting them into a basket. James could smell cooking food and he realised how much he missed being here. It was strange that he'd connected to this place so quickly. It felt like home more than any other place he'd been to. Sure, Hogwarts had always felt like _a_ home to him and he loved the sentience of the school but this place was on a completely different tier to the school. It exuded the love that James had yearned for his whole life and he knew he never wanted to lose it. He couldn't handle losing it again.

"Mom." Chris almost whispered but that was enough as she flew around. James couldn't help but pull Chris' arm in front of himself as if hiding behind his boyfriend and Piper's eyes widened as she took him in.

"Oh, James. It's so good to see you again." Piper moved closer and James steeled himself and moved forwards which seemed to be all the permission she needed as she opened her arms and swooped in to embrace him. James froze up and didn't let go of Chris' hand by his side and she seemed to notice as she slowly withdrew, not fast enough to show it pained her.

"I'm sorry..." James winced.

"Oh, dear." Piper smiled at him. "I don't blame you for not being comfortable but I really wanted to feel that you were real. Everyone's missed you so much."

Chris moved forwards and hugged his mother and whispered something in her ear which made her pull back and nod before smiling at James again and picking up the basket of bread and moving through the door into the dining room. As the door opened a blast of sound hit them and James started shaking slightly. "What did you whisper to her?" James asked quietly.

"I just asked her to go tell everyone we're here and that we'll come through in a minute." Chris explained. "You don't have to worry, they're not going to all jump you at the same time. They remember how you've been and none of them want to see you like that again but they are going to want to be around you. You know how much they adore you, especially Anna, Felix, Jason, Luke, Pennie, Ashley and Matt."

"I think I can handle children." James bit his lip. "I... I always could after Azkaban. It's just they..."

"They saw you just after you escaped." Chris nodded. "They'll just be glad you _did_ escape."

"Let's go." James mumbled quietly. "Just don't leave me alone."

"I promise I won't." Chris kissed the side of his head just as he led James through into the dining room and from there into the living to see everyone sitting or standing around. Obviously Piper had already warned them since they were watching him the instant the two walked through the door and James couldn't help but clutch Chris' hand tighter but he made sure he wasn't too frightened looking and that the shields around his desires, emotions and thoughts were strong and keeping everything closed up within him.

In the silence he glanced around the room. There were still three sofas in the room and they were taken up with four people on each. To the left Coup was sitting on the end with Phoebe against his side and Felix and then Joshua keeping a close eye on his younger cousin. On the sofa with the back to him were Paige's twins, Luke and Pennie, as well as Jason, Phoebe's youngest and Patience, Phoebe's eldest who was the first to react as she went pale and turned away from him, shaking slightly after taking in his pale and drawn appearance although he looked ten times more alive now after a week of nurturing from Chris than he had when he'd first seen them when he'd killed Voldemort. On the last sofa were Ashley and Matt, Paige's two youngest as well as their parents and finally sitting on the floor by the fire were Wyatt, Prue and Anna and lastly Leo was standing with the phone near his ear, having obviously been talking to someone though he muttered a quick goodbye and hung up.

Felix, having spent the whole night with James was the first to get up and he quickly ran for James and hugged him. James, having had the few seconds warning braced himself and hugged him back with his right arm. "You came!" Felix whispered and hugged him tighter regardless of the fact as a fifteen year old it was rather strange to hug your older cousins twenty-one year old boyfriend. Nothing was normal in this family though.

Felix had barely backed off when Matt, who James could have guessed wouldn't care if James was uncomfortable jumped up and ran to hug him. James got a little dizzy as he was hugged by Jason, Ashley and then Luke before Chris finally pulled him back a little and wrapped his arms around him having noticed that it was overwhelming him a bit. Joshua stood up and put a hand on Pennie's shoulder to make sure she didn't try to hug him too and then reached out his hand to James who reached out and took it accepting the welcome back from the eighteen year old with a grateful smile.

James let Chris steer him towards where Phoebe and Coup had been sitting as the two stood to give up their seats and James let Phoebe give him a light hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You're so cold, James." Phoebe told him quietly.

"It's something that happens in there." James winced. "You stop trying to be warm."

"He was always a little cold to touch, Aunt Phoebe." Chris tried to explain. "But he's a lot colder now."

"It'll fade." James assured them as he sat beside Chris and leaned into his arm. Felix sat beside him and turned to face him with Joshua behind him and the family gathered around to continue their talking and playing but just including James in everything.

James escaped about an hour later while everyone was setting the table and with a lingering touch to Chris' arm he assured him that he'd be alright. He headed up through the house seeking some quiet and eventually found himself in the attic of the house. It was strange that the attic, which stood for so much to the family that he'd joined, had started to grow on him. It was where the family discussed anything to do with demons and knew it was their answer to keeping their demon fighting as separate from their lives as possible. The normal pedestal sat in the edge of the room with the Book of Shadows sitting on top and James knew that throughout the generations since the Salem Witch Trials the book had been passed down from mother to daughter and now to sons as well and each person who had held the book had added something to it until it had grown into what it was now. Probably the best source of spells and knowledge of the Wicca and Demon world ever to exist. It was what made this family so strong, it didn't increase their strength but it gave them access to spells that had been long forgotten, ways to kill demons that the demons had thought forgotten and Chris' family had guarded it for centuries.

On the table that they used to brew potions was another old leather bound book with James' own emblem on the front, the one that had appeared the first time James had used the book. The Rune Tome had been left in their care after James had been arrested and put back into Azkaban and James hadn't wanted to have the temptation around to cast magic over the last week so it had stayed up in the attic of the Manor. James moved over to the pedestal and gently ran his fingers over the old leather of the Book of Shadows and he sighed out in relief.

"Did you really think it would react to you?" Wyatt's voice made him jump and his magic throbbed but he controlled it and then soothed it.

"I..." James sighed.

"You thought that your stay in Azkaban could make you evil?" Wyatt frowned and moved closer until he was just on the other side of the pedestal. He reached over and opened the book and started randomly flicking to different pages. James' eyes flickered across the writing and diagrams.

"Voldemort was in my head so much." James tried to explain. "He made me do things. He made me torture you all in my head and kill everyone."

"Torture doesn't make you turn evil, James." Wyatt pointed out.

"How can torturing the people you love not be evil?" James pressed.

"I meant him torturing you." Wyatt smiled. "He forced that on you to break you but you're here now and you're not evil but you didn't need the book to tell you that."

"Then what tells me I'm good?" James asked.

"You love my brother." Wyatt said simply.

"How do _you_ know that for sure?" James pressed.

"Because I'm his older brother. It's my job to protect him and I'd have already kicked your arse if you were only pretending to love him. Us big brothers can sense this sort of thing. Just ask Chris and Joshua, we all look after our younger cousins, brothers and sisters." Wyatt explained. "And also because you came here today. You couldn't accept being scared of being around people like us because you knew that you loved Chris too much to take him away from his family."

"Chris is who he is because of his family." James told Wyatt. "I can't take his family from him. It couldn't anyway. He'd never lose his family for me."

Wyatt opened his mouth to argue but then shut it again and nodded. "You _are_ right as much as it seems mean to say it." Wyatt reached out and took James' shoulder in his hand. "You are a good boyfriend to him if you can admit that. It's the same with me, no matter how much I could love a partner my family will always come first. I'd always leave them to be here to protect them. Chris is just lucky he found you."

"Why?" James asked.

"Because if Chris had to leave dinner with you to come help us fight demons I know that you'd be right at his side, protecting us with your Runes." Wyatt grinned. "And I'm glad because I know you'll protect everyone just as much as I would."

"You're not just Chris' family, you're not the in-laws." James told him. "You've become like a brother. Piper and Leo treat me like a son and your sisters like I'm their older brother and you're cousins are like cousins to me. Maybe it's because my own Aunt and Cousin treated me so bad or the fact this is the first family I've ever actually really had but I need you all in my life just as you need them all in your life."

"Mate. I should warn you." Wyatt said seriously before his face cracked into a big grin. "I'm horrible to my brother."

James laughed for the first time in weeks and Wyatt hugged him even before he'd finished. "So, oh King of Magic?" James asked as he pulled back. "When do we see which of us can beat the other at magic?"

"Well, you know that wouldn't be fair." Wyatt sighed dramatically. "Chris'll try to beat me up if I beat you too badly."

"Well if you want to wimp out of fighting somebody who's only been using magic like yours for a few months I'm sure we can come up with a believable excuse to tell all your little cousins and sisters. We wouldn't want you to lose face." James laughed before his hearing caught a chuckle by the door and he turned to see Chris leaning against the door with a grin on his face and his arms crossed across his chest as he listened.

Wyatt turned and laughed. "Hey, little bro, how long have you been there?"

"About the time you were being inexorably sappy." Chris laughed. "It's something I'll have to remember to use to offset your trumped up manliness some time."

"I'm never sappy." Wyatt defended with a mock glare which faded as James leant up and kissed him on the cheek. He huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Wyatt." James told him quietly but knew that Chris would have heard. He grabbed the Tome of Runes and tucked it under his arm.

"What's that for?" Chris asked as he stopped in front of him and kissed him on the lips briefly.

"I wanted to have a look at the Manor's wards, just to check they're working alright." James told him. "And I want to sort out a time with your Aunts and Uncles to cast wards on their houses like this one."

"I'd complain about you doing too much but I don't see the point." Chris laughed and grabbed him into a tight hug. "Lunch is up. Nobody wants to start without you."

"Chris, you know I can't eat anything." James pointed out.

"I know you can barely stomach something at Dinner. I've told them all but they still want you around for lunch." Chris pointed out and James nodded.

"Come on then." Wyatt announced. "I'll eat his share."

"I know you will." Chris laughed and punched his brother lightly on the arm as he past. Wyatt gave a mock cry of pain and started stumbling down the stairs towards lunch. James laughed again and Chris nuzzled the side of his neck. "I've missed your smile you know."

James turned to look at him and smiled with all his heart. "And I've missed your laugh. You never laughed at Hogwarts."

"I was always worried about you." Chris defended.

James poked him in the stomach. "If we're not careful we'll both be so worried about each other we'll never laugh or smile again."

Chris grabbed him from behind and wrapped his arms around him. "I'm never letting you go again." He swore.

"Well alright but it does make undressing each other difficult." James sighed regretfully making Chris laugh and kiss the back of his neck. "Let's go for lunch then everyone can do some magic so I can check the wards with magic in the air."

"Yes Sir." Chris bit his earlobe gently and tugged him down towards his family with a big smile on his face which probably looked suspicious to their family but neither of them really cared and the family quickly forgot about it when they saw the happiness in James' eyes and they all knew he'd be alright.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two days later**

James walked into the office of San Francisco Child Services and was almost run down by Courtney who greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek that made James tense up and almost jerk back. He patted her on the back before she pulled back. "It's so wonderful that you're back. How are you feeling? You look so ill. Are you sure you should be back here?"

"I'm tired of sitting around on my own, Courtney." James told her. Paige had laid down his excuse as soon as they'd returned to the country. Everyone knew that Paige's experience had been requested at a boarding school in Scotland and that James had gone with her to work on gaining experience in such settings. And Paige had told them all, and her bosses, that James had fallen ill and James definitely looked that way.

James walked into the main 'ball pen' and silence reigned for a few seconds before people started heading for him with greetings and hugs. James let himself ride out the attention even as his eyes found Kevin and Paige talking in the background.

"Alright, everyone!" Paige called over the chaos. "Don't we all have work to do?"

People headed for their desk and James walked over to Kevin and Paige. "Hi." James smiled at Kevin who hugged him briefly.

"It's good to have you back." Kevin told him with a smile as he pulled back.

"Kevin's with you for this week to get you back up to speed. He's been monitoring your case files while we were away." Paige told him. "Welcome back."

James nodded. "Let's get started, you can take me through it all and we'll see about what we have on our plate."

James spent the entire day buried in his office with Kevin sitting opposite his desk going through eight piles of files that were for every child under James' psychological help. It was late in the afternoon when James finally got Kevin to give him the files of all the children from Grand View Orphanage, the one that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had burned down along with murdering two of the three night staff. None of the children had been hurt but they'd been obviously scared and all had been through a counsellor assigned by their team to assess any emotional damage. A couple had been referred onto a psychologist like James but there were a few more which were children from Golden Marina orphanage and were a little more harmed by the emotional trauma and the counsellors had suggested they talk to James as soon as possible. It was the main reason that James was back at work already and not waiting till he was in better health.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Halliwell Manor – A few days later**

James waited nervously, glancing out of the attic window with Chris standing behind him as they waited for Charlie to arrive via Wyatt so they could travel straight into the Manor through James' wards. James had spoken with Patience at length about what had happened to her and to make her realise that in no way had James ever blamed her for what had happened. He told her all about the Imperious Curse, telling her more detail than he had described to them in the first place, about everything that it could make a person do and he knew that she felt helpless at the thought of it. The feeling was quite common in James' line of work. Where a child had been forced to do something that they didn't want to do, especially when they felt helpless to stop it. It made them feel weak and powerless and it was especially dangerous to children in their later teen years with their struggle to become adults.

Patience's situation was aggravated because of the use of magic, just like Felix's condition was aggravated by his powers but in Felix's case the answer was in normal methods. Patience was different, she had to regain her sense of power, the ability to make her own decisions and control her actions and unfortunately James knew of only one way to do that. The same way that he had learnt to overcome the Imperious curse. And that was why he'd contacted Charlie through Coup as Patience's father although he hadn't yet told Phoebe or Coup what he wanted Charlie there to do.

He heard the sound of orbs and turned to the centre of the attic as Wyatt appeared with Charlie who looked around in surprise before a grin spread across his face at the sight of James. "James!" Charlie smiled. "Hermione's been out of her mind with worry."

"She couldn't come?" James asked.

"We can't risk any transport with magic with her pregnancy. She's due in a couple of months." Charlie told him before turning to look at Paige, Phoebe and Coup. "It's good to see you all well and I hope what happened doesn't affect your view on all of us. That said be as nasty to the Ministry and Order as you'd like."

Paige chuckled and James stepped forwards, out of Chris' arms. "You know why I asked you to come?"

Charlie frowned. "Coup explained the situation and said that you thought I could help but I..." Charlie winced. "You didn't tell them how and I can only think of one reason."

"Will you do it if they agree?" James asked.

"James." Charlie winced. "The very idea. It makes me feel ill."

"_Can_ you do it?" James pressed.

"I know how to." Charlie nodded. "We learn it in case the Dragons go wild."

"You know it's possibly the only..." James started but Charlie cut him off with an angry gesture.

"Don't try to justify it, James." Charlie told him. "I may not like it but I trust you to know if it'll do any damage. If you think it has to happen then I'll do it. I just won't like it."

"What are you two talking about?" Wyatt cut in frustratingly.

"There is no way I'm pitching this to them." Charlie told him.

"I want Charlie to cast the Imperius curse on Patience." James said simply and watched everyone in the room flinch in shock. Even Chris jumped and James knew he was concerned.

"How can you suggest that?" Wyatt asked.

"What will it do?" Phoebe stepped forwards and took her husband's hand in her own while she touched Wyatt on the arm to get him to calm down. "You have to have a good reason so let's hear it."

"When I was fourteen we had a Defence Professor that taught us about the three Unforgivable Curses and he taught me to throw off the Imperious Curse." James explained.

"Yeah, and he just happened to be a Death Eater that set you up to fall into Voldemort's trap and thus Voldemort used your blood to be reborn and killed a student." Charlie pointed out. "He then almost managed to torture you."

"Charlie." James warned before turning to Phoebe. "The point is right now Patience's problem is that she's lost any feeling of being able to make decisions for herself. Her time under the Imperious Curse stripped any self confidence away from her and that's dangerous at her age especially."

"Normally when that happens we do something to boost their self-confidence." Paige spoke up realising where James was going.

"With Patience it's a little more complicated because no matter how confident we get her she'll still know that she can't defend against the Imperious Curse and that it can make her do whatever the caster wants her to do." James explained. "That's the problem."

"So you want to teach her how to throw off the curse to rebuild her confidence?" Coup asked. "Will that work?"

"Some people are just born to fight it off, their bodies instinctively want to throw it off and fighting it depends on what the order is." Charlie explained. "If I cast it on Wyatt now for example I might be able to make him stand on one leg. Most definitely really since he has no experience in it but the problem is that it makes you want to do it so since you don't see any threat in standing on one leg you'd do it. But if I ordered you to orb that knife into Chris' heart and kill him you'd almost certainly start fighting it. You might be successful or you might not. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Wyatt nodded. "And thanks for the graphic."

"Sorry." Charlie winced.

"Phoebe, Paige and Chris have already seen what it can do. You remember the children back when Chris and I jumped back into the future. Some people just can't fight it at all but with even a little magic you can do it." James told them.

"James is one of the best at throwing it off. When the 'Defence Teacher' cast it on him and tried to get him to jump onto a chair, James stumbled and knocked it over." Charlie explained. "Simply put even though there was no harm in the task, James instinctively refused to be controlled. Most probably because of his childhood."

"Thank you, Charlie." James cut in. "The point is that once Patience learns to overcome the Imperious Curse she'll most likely regain her confidence and the Imperious won't be a threat to her anymore."

"You're sure about this?" Coup asked. James nodded and Charlie sighed but nodded anyway.

"We'll let you do this if one of us is present." Phoebe told them both. "But in the end if you can't convince Patience to let you cast that curse on her then you won't be able to."

"Wyatt, can you go and get her?" James asked and Wyatt nodded and orbed away, heading for Phoebe and Coup's house.

They stood around for a while before Charlie fidgeted and pulled something out of his pocket. "Maybe you should take a look at this, James." Charlie told him and winced as James took the newspaper clipping from him.

James read it with a perfectly emotionless face and by the end of it Charlie was shifting nervously. James shrugged and passed it to Chris. "Doesn't that bother you?" Charlie asked.

"I can't help it if the Ministry and Dumbledore are idiots." James shrugged. "I'm over it and I don't want anything more to do with that world. I went back to try to help the children but they couldn't except that and this is just proof that Dumbledore and the Ministry would rather make an enemy of the person that freed them from Voldemort than to admit to the world that they were wrong and risk losing face."

"But they've declared you dead!" Charlie gasped out in horror. "They're giving my dick of a brother the Order of Merlin First Class for killing you!"

"What!?" Paige gasped.

"I told him to." James shrugged.

"What does that say?" Paige demanded even as Chris finished reading it with a sigh and passed it to Charlie to pass to Paige. Chris reached for James and James settled back into his chest and wrapped his own arms over Chris' as they came up to rest on his chest.

"It says that the Order of the Phoenix captured me when I was on the run and in an attempt to rescue his 'ally' Voldemort attacked Hogwarts." James shrugged. "In the fight Dumbledore defeated Voldemort and Ronald Weasley defeated me. It claims his power of 'light' completely obliterated me and that was why there is no body."

"Minerva stood up in front of the Order at the first meeting after this was published and told them that she didn't believe one word of it but in respect for your peace she would not spread the actual truth." Charlie told him. "She told Dumbledore that she no longer wished to have anything to do with him or the Wizarding World and resigned her position at Hogwarts. Hermione and I have evicted the Order from entering your home and have told our family that anyone willing to say that you were ever evil has no place near us."

"You didn't have to disown your family, Charlie." James said sadly.

"You've sacrificed almost everything in your life for us, James." Charlie sighed. "If my family can turn their backs on someone like you then I don't trust them to be around my children."

"Your mother?" James prompted.

"Was not impressed but she's too taken by Ron getting a medal that she hasn't realised that this means she'll never see her first grandchildren." Charlie told him with a shrug. "I'd rather have Hermione happy and free than continue a charade with my family. I just can't accept Ginny, Ron, Percy and my parents treating somebody like they have you. I don't see it being long before Bill and the twins go the same way."

"Thank you, Charlie." James told him.

"Doesn't it bother you that you saved them all and they're happy to make you out as the enemy and brand you a murderer?" Charlie asked.

"I didn't do it to save them." James told him. "I did it to save the people I love."

"You deserve something more." Charlie told him.

"I have everything I want." James told him. "I have the people around you now. I have people like you and Hermione that will know the truth and I have people like Minerva to tell me that the Wizards aren't completely beyond hope but I'll stay dead to them because that gives me peace. Dumbledore and the Ministry know that if I suddenly appear they'll lose all face and all credibility and they'll have an enemy that they can't handle. They'll keep me dead and they won't endanger any of my family because they are scared of me taking revenge in just that way."

"You figured this out before you even left Hogwarts didn't you?" Charlie asked.

"As soon as I killed Voldemort and turned and saw Dumbledore's eyes." James nodded. "I could see he was already planning something and I knew that plan was to overcome me, lock me up and claim the credit. But there was a flaw in that plan and in that instant I knew he saw it and I fixed the problem for it. He knew that if he did that none of you would have rested until you broke me free and he couldn't have that so I gave him a solution. And now I've outsmarted him because at any point I can turn around and completely destroy him and the Ministry and they know it."

"You have Dumbledore under your thumb?" Charlie said before bursting out laughing.

"I have to admit that if I wasn't half insane at the time I probably couldn't have come up with it." James shrugged just before orbs filled the room and Wyatt appeared with Patience on his arm even though she could have transported herself here.

"What's happening?" She asked instantly, pulling herself up at the sight of a Wizard and fell back behind her older cousin.

"Do you remember Charlie?" James asked her and she turned to him, seeing his determination to help her in his eyes. She nodded. "What I'm going to suggest is going to surprise you but I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think you'd be able to do it. And definitely not if I thought it would hurt you."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Charlie can cast the Imperious Curse." James said bluntly. He wasn't talking to a child after all but a sixteen year old. He let her glare at him and just waited for her to calm down. "When I was fourteen a teacher of mine taught me how to throw of the curse and now I can do it with barely a thought. Charlie."

"You're sure?" Charlie winced. "I can't cast it on you..."

"Do it already, Charlie." James told him.

"Hermione is going to kill me." Charlie groaned before pulling his wand and aiming it at James and with a wince intoned the spell. _"Imperio."_ James felt the spell spread through him. "Walk over here." Charlie ordered, fingering his wand.

James shook his head and rolled his shoulders and turned to look at Patience. "See, it's easy once you've practiced and that's what I want you to do."

"I couldn't..." She swallowed.

"It's practice." James told her. "He kept you under it for weeks, you didn't know it was there and you got used to the feeling. This'll teach you to recognise it and fight it."

"What if I can't?" She asked him.

"You can." Chris told her simple. "I know you, Patience, you're strong and determined. You'll do it because that's what you want and that's what you need."

Patience stared at her older cousin and then nodded. "We don't need everyone up here for this." James told them all before looking at Chris to tell him it was okay for him to leave. Chris nodded, touched the middle of his back and walked past Wyatt, grabbing his arm on the way. Paige followed them out leaving just Patience, her parents, Charlie and himself in the room.

"All I'm going to make you do is take a few steps." Charlie told her. "Nothing embarrassing and nothing harmful."

She nodded but Phoebe stepped in before Charlie could start. "If you don't want to continue at any time, all you have to do is tell them to stop." She told her daughter. "At any time."

Patience nodded at her mother. "I trust James." She said. "And I need to do this."

Coup nodded at James and he saw the trust in the Cupid's eyes. Now that his mind was healing he was able to lower his shields a little bit more each time he was around the family and he knew that Coup, as powerful as his desire reading ability was, could read his desire to help her.

James headed over to her and nodded. "Let's get started."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Two months later**

James and Chris were walking together from a late lunch date back to James' office when Chris suddenly tensed up making James stop in his tracks. "What is it?" He asked.

"Matt sent out a pulse." Chris told him before looking at his watch. "He's with the others, on their way home from school. North Bay Park."

"My way." James said simply and pulled Chris into the alley and almost as soon as they were out of view he pulled Chris tighter and apparated them both across the city to the park near to the school that Matt, Anna, Felix, Jason, Luke, Pennie and Ashley went to.

They appeared with a crack that echoed through the trees he'd taken them to and quickly headed for the sound of explosions. James saw them first, the children were hiding behind trees and on the ground, defending themselves against a large group of demons. James sketched out a rune and powered it up as he and Chris crouched at the back of the fight, behind the children and far away from the demons. James threw his rune up into the air and set it off.

"Cover your eyes." James warned Chris who put an arm over his face even as James covered his own eyes. The rune exploded into a bright light and even in the middle of the afternoon it burned through the trees like a small sun, almost like a military flash bang. The children, with their backs to the light, wouldn't be effected as much as the demons attacking them. James leapt forwards even as the light was still fading and Chris followed him. James fell to the ground with his back to a tree between where Matt and Felix were hiding and motioned for them to stay where they were. "Matt, send a message for everyone to head over to us here. Within a few metres of me."

Matt nodded and closed his eyes and James could feel his mind stretching out to all of them. James focused on his work even as Chris distracted the demons, prolonging the fight until the others could arrive. James began drawing runes, almost too fast for anyone to follow and they circled around him and between the others, spreading out around them as they closed in. The first ring snaked back in and joined with the end and then sank into the ground in a circle with James in the middle leaving a light glow on the ground. James started the next chain and soon that stretched out and hung directly over the glow in the ground. Jason was the last to roll over to them and James activated his rune forming a weak shield around them.

James added to the shield, building it up until it wasn't just stopping the attacks but deflecting them back. Even as Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Wyatt arrived to help Chris fight off the demons James added teeth to his shield and even though the demons had long since surrounded the shield and were trying to bombard it James wasn't worried. He activated the teeth and the shield flashed with lightning that ran around it and then stabbed out at whatever was nearest to them. It fried three of the demons in seconds and then another one before the demons could start to run. Once they were distracted by the lightning Piper, Paige, Chris and Wyatt were easily able to pick them off and soon the last few were retreating.

Chris and Wyatt checked the area while James straightened up and the children followed him. James quickly 'deleted' the teeth from the shield since otherwise it would hit the Witches too. Finally James took the shield down and Piper, Phoebe and Paige checked their children, nieces and nephews to make sure they were all alright.

"That was awesome!" Felix told him with a grin before launching himself at James who laughed.

"Why can't you all stay out of trouble?" James asked. "Chris and I were having a nice walk together."

Chris laughed. "What did they want?" He asked his sister, Anna.

"What do they ever want?" She asked in return.

"To cause problems." Piper nodded. "Let's get home. Thank you, James."

"You know, I helped." Chris put on a sulk and James laughed and took his hand savouring the moment where he belonged in this family. He planned to stay here with them, protecting them and caring for them just as he'd protect Chris and love him.

The Dursley's, Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Azkaban, the Wizarding World; they were his past and these people around him now; they were his future. His New Life.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The End


End file.
